FORT: Romanian transport operators prepare big protests nationwide, in Europe

The Ministry of Transport has halted the entire road transport sector and the operators are preparing big protests in the country and in Europe, reads a Saturday's release issued by the Federation of Romanian Transport Operators (FORT) for AGERPRES. 

"The activities of Minister Sova in the field of road passenger and haulage transport, coupled with incompetence regarding road infrastructure, pushed adrift one of the most important economic sectors, with a contribution to GDP of about 7pct," transporters say. 

According to them, the Council of Transport Ministers of the EU countries adopted on 4 December the position regarding the reform in the road transport sector and the only one who abstained was Lucian Sova, while the other ministers from the countries most affected by this package voted against. 

For the FORT, the minister's abstention is "a treacherous act of treason". 

"The EU proves once again that it only wants us consumer market of products and services offered by the multinationals backed by the governments of the ?master' countries for decades. Because perhaps it is not enough what the EU prepares for the Romanian hauliers, the resigning Romanian transport minister has published in the Official Gazette also the ministerial Order that radically changes the current operational context in the sense of cannibalizing the inter-county passenger transport market," the release said. 

With this order, Sova made a step ahead of the mobility package because it generates the premise for an international passenger trip to take passengers also between two localities on the Romanian territory, the FORT says. 

In this context, the FORT is preparing to stage big protests against the current Government in January. 

"At the same time, the FORT is to be involved in any protest action organized by employers at EU level," the press release said.