At MAKS-2015 air show Belarusian haulier protested against BelToll

Syarhei Shtoda, a cargo company owner, staged a performance during the International Aviation and Space Show MAKS-2015 in Moscow.

Thought not without difficulty, he managed to get into the cockpit of a fighter aircraft which was a part of the exhibition. There he unfurled a self-made poster with the words: “Lukashenka! We demand BelToll amnesty,” while his colleagues made several pictures. They managed to avoid obstacle created by the air show organisers, Radio Svaboda informs.

Earlier Syarhei Shtoda posted a picture of a semi-trailer truck against a background of BelToll tax sign. A banner with the date of the “elections” and the following text: “11.10.2015 -? Lukashenka! Where is the promised amnesty? We demand to cancel paid BelToll toll roads” was attached to the van.

Syarhei Shtoda is one of the leaders of cargo companies’ owners who are protesting against BelToll system. Over the first months of work under the new conditions he was to be fined 20,000 Euro. As said by him, from the very beginning the system was malfunctioning: while passing special gates, gadgets on board were not working or gave wrong information about a vehicle. But drivers were completely unaware about that – they received messages about “violations” a few months later, and it was impossible to challenge them.

The deceived hauliers and drivers offered the government to carry out “an amnesty” – to cancel the fines for the several first months of the system’s work, while people had been getting accustomed to it. Otherwise, they warned that inappropriate fines would result in bankruptcy of businessmen. Freight companies charged the state with an attempt to liquidate the independent sector of international transportation services: about 5,000 legal entities became hostages of BelToll system.

First the Transportation Ministry agreed to annul the fines, but later backpedalled on its decision. In February Syarheo Shtoda urged hauliers to participate in a protest rally in front of the House of Government, where he promised to set on fire semi-trailer trucks in a public view. A day before the planned date Shtoda was invited for a meeting with Vice Premier, allegedly to discuss conditions of the “amnesty”, and as a result he was detained for 15 days. He was charged with "swearing in a public place".

In order to fight against BelToll, the Union of Belarusian Cargo Companies, “The 8th Region,” was founded. The public association is not registered yet, however, as Syahrei Shtoda says, it could become a common platform for discussing a number of controversial moments, among which is the functioning of the toll roads system, the size of transport fees, obligatory certificates for businessmen and reversal of the decree on “social parasites.”