Route Minibuses Plan Indefinite Protest and Threaten to Block Roads

According to the carriers, who now hold a protest action at the European Square, their right to transport was deprived by Kyiv Oblast State Administration by falsifying the contest for transportation, Censor.NET correspondent reports.

Carriers say that they have been working on their routes for 10 years. But in August last year, the right to operate on these routes was given to Odesa Company NorthTrans. Hundreds of people were out of work, and passengers without transport. NorthTrans has no transport to service the routes in Kyiv. According to carriers, the company's CEO is friends with the officials of the Kyiv Oblast Administration Didenko and Maksymenko.

Carriers say that with the advent of the new company the fares will rise.

The carriers plan to make an action indefinite. They are now planning to go to the PGO office. If the authorities do not hear their demands, they threaten to block the roads and to do everything to be heard.

At the same time, deputy head of the Kyiv Oblast State Administration Volodymyr Maksymenko denies all charges of the lobbying NorthTrans.

"We are trying to work in the market of Kyiv region carriers that meet the requirements of passengers to have comfortable new buses," - he said.

The official noted that the emergence of new companies in the market will not affect the increase in tariffs for passengers.

"Tariffs are approved by the Kyiv Oblast State Administration and not by carriers. To date the tariffs have not been revised since 2009, and we do not plan to increase them," he says.

According to him, the carriers are asking to raise the prices, but KOSA does not agree woth that.

He said that it is escalation of the situation, which is beyond the economy and is related to politics. The official also promised to sue the representative of the "Bohdan Khmelnytskyy" Human Rights Organization Bohdan Khmelnytskyy.