The Association of International Freight Transporters of Montenegro will permanently park trucks on the extensions near several border crossings on Monday, January 26th and begin blocking the passage for all types of freight vehicles. Passengers and those transporting medicines, animals, explosives and weapons will be able to travel unhindered during the protest.
Supermarkets and gas stations will feel the greatest impact, as the traffic suspensions also apply to groceries and fuel.
This was announced at a press conference by the president of this Association, Đorđije Lješnjak.
Asked how they will prevent trucks from passing if they are parked next to the highway, Lješnjak explained that the police will not allow trucks to pass, but that they will stop them - if that happens.
"We have been expressing our dissatisfaction for the last three months, but since January 18th we have gained the impression that we are bothering the state. Instead of helping us, the Customs Administration has started a showdown with transporters. Trucks from certain companies have been detained at the borders for several hours, controls last for five hours, and some customs officers say that this comes from the top. The protest is starting not far from all borders where goods are transported. We will not disrupt the daily movement of vehicles, we will be on the extensions, not on the main road. Our protest will be felt most in supermarkets, gas stations, and there will be no exceptions because all vehicles carrying cargo will not go across the borders, except for those transporting animals, medicines, and explosives. The Police Administration approved the protest for 72 hours, but we have requested an extension because we plan to continue it until further notice," said Lješnjak.
Truckers are organizing the blockades because they are demanding changes to the excise tax rate, the refund of which they receive per liter of fuel, faster VAT refunds, longer work hours for border customs and phytosanitary inspections, changes to ETIAS, and preferential work experience. The traffic suspension is also part of a regional protest by freight carriers from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, due to the limitation of the duration of stay - work of professional drivers in Schengen countries to a maximum of 90 days in a six-month period.
They want partnership, not help.
Lješnjak explained that the protest will begin at 12 noon and will last until their demands are met, and that they are appealing to Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and Finance Minister Novica Vuković to spare them hours of unnecessary border controls - because they will soon ask for help from the international community, that is, from foreign embassies.
"We don't need help, we are seeking a partnership with the state. It is obliged to provide us with the opportunity to work normally, and since we started expressing dissatisfaction, it has only gotten worse. We ask that the targeting of companies stop because we also have photographs, that there are receipts at the borders with the names of companies that customs officers should stop. The consequences of the protests will be huge for us because we only earn money when the wheel is turning, and we will not work from Monday. We employ thousands of people and their livelihoods are at risk, as are businessmen because they pay salaries even when they are not working," Lješnjak stressed.
He stressed that he hopes that the border police will not allow the trucks to cross because they have properly reported the protest and informed their colleagues that they will block the vehicles. Lješnjak added that they have had meetings at the Ministry of Finance so far, but that Vuković said that a faster VAT refund would affect the budget deficit, while they were not satisfied with the epilogue of the talks at the Chamber of Commerce.
Lješnjak emphasized that in the event of the closure of domestic companies, they will be replaced by foreign ones that will be twice as expensive, and that Montenegrin transport will cease to exist by the time the country enters the European Union.
He pointed out that they are requesting the new excise tax amount because it was reduced from 18 to 11 cents per liter at the beginning of last year, that they want goods to be inspected at customs terminals and not at borders, and that drivers will leave for benefits in other countries - so they are requesting a benefit for them.
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