Romanian farmers, truckers protest insurance, subsidies
Romanian farmers and truckers continued their protests on Saturday, the 11th day of demonstrations.
Dozens of agricultural machinery and vehicles blocked traffic in the county of Dolj, and in the county of Bihor, truckers gathered in Oradea to express their dissatisfaction with government measures that they say are insufficient.
Farmers say they will not end their protests until the government meets their demands, including a reduction in auto insurance rates, an increase in the per-hectare subsidy, and compensation for losses caused by the major disruption of the grain market following the import of cheap grain from Ukraine.
"In my opinion, it's not okay, because I had to pay 5,600 lei. Now how do I pay? Do I pay the same? It's not right. Why should we pay so much money?"
"Nine thousand lei for truckers with one or two cars... does that seem normal to you? When the price per kilometre is 3.50 lei, 4 lei per kilometre. The taxes... divide 95 million lei for insurance, add the CMR fees. Add the vignette. Add all the taxes. See how much a trucker will have left. - How much? - Somewhere around 20 million. 20,000 lei. A tire has reached around 20 million."
"I don't know how this ceiling of 9,000 lei helps us. It was the same last year, wasn't it? How does this ceiling help us? We want discounts, but we don't want a ceiling because in Spain they have insurance for 9,000 lei. That's how much insurance costs in Spain."
Protesters say they will continue their demonstrations on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The protest of farmers and truckers, approved for tomorrow, will take place between 9:30 am and 10:00 pm, the Bucharest City Hall announced.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
