Several buses belonging to private bus operators blocked the road in front of the Government Office on Tuesday, with the police controlling traffic at the scene. The carriers blocked the road in order to express their discontent with a lack of state support for their companies, while criticising Transport Minister Andrej Dolezal (a We Are Family nomiee) for not inviting them to talks on a new aid scheme. Vice-chair of the Private Bus Carriers Union Darina Mosna explained that bus operators opted for the move due to the fact that their ticket sales have tanked by more than 70 percent as compared to last year, and that they've been suffering for 18 months.
"We received some subsidies for last year, when this was still managed by the Economy Ministry, but in the meantime the agenda has been moved to the Transport Ministry. It's September, the end of the year is approaching, and no one has been holding talks with us," explained Mosna, adding that the two ministries allegedly agreed that bus operators would be invited to talks, but nothing of the kind has taken place.
"We don't know why the minister has been avoiding us," said Mosna, calculating that this concerns approximately 370 small and medium-sized bus companies.
On September 10, the Transport Ministry reported that further aid for bus carriers would be launched in the autumn. The aid is supposed to support irregular bus services, i.e. bus trips, as well as regular international bus transport. At the same time, Dolezal announced a more extensive aid scheme for larger enterprises in the sector.
In response to the blockade of the road, Transport Ministry spokesman Ivan Rudolf stated that the ministry won't comment on political activities. "Bus operators were provided with aid in the past, and, as we reported a few days ago, a further support scheme is currently in the works," stated the spokesman.
