Lorry drivers protest in Daghestan (Aida Mirmaksumova/ OC Media)
Protesting lorry drivers in Daghestan are expecting to meet today with deputies of the Russian Duma. According to the protesters, the outcome of the meeting will determine whether or not the strike continues.
Abdurashid Samadov, a participant of the strike, informed OC Media that the majority of the protesters had asked to meet with the parliamentarians.
‘Three MPs agreed to meet us here, to see the drivers with their own eyes, to hear us. We plan to introduce our demands once again. We already know that the authorities of the republic can not abolish the [Platon road tax], but we have other demands related to customs transit and transportation of goods on Russian routes’, Samadov said.
The Russia-wide strike of lorry drivers against the Platon road tax began on 26 March. Initially, about 3,000 drivers took part in in Daghestan. However after two weeks, the number began to decline, as a number of employees of larger logistics companies returned to work. Most self-employed drivers are still on strike.
‘Let’s see what the MPs tell us. We are ready to stop the strike if we are satisfied with today’s meeting. Each striker will decide for themselves after the meeting whether to stay or go. Although, given that Platon has not been canceled, and how much money we have to spend on each route, I don’t think we have any reason to go to work’, Samadov told us.
The biggest strike of Daghestani lorry drivers is on the federal Kavkaz Motorway, just outside the village of Manas in the Kayakent District of the republic, 30 km South of Makhachkala.
There are still around 300 heavy lorries in a carpark there, with participants continuing the demonstration in shifts.
A group of protesting lorry drivers in Daghestan have said they are now satisfied, after the government conducted an inspection of the customs post on the Azerbaijani border. They say that there are no longer queues and they no longer have to pay bribes at customs control.
The drivers had been demanding an apology from a customs officer captured in a video in which another official called them ‘fools’, and spoke of extorting money from drivers. Authorities told the drivers the official spea
On 31 October, several dozen Daghestani lorry drivers gathered at the customs post on the Azerbaijani border demanding an apology for insults directed at them by a Daghestani customs officer.
The demonstration came in response to a video widely circulated on social media in which a customs official at the post demands a bribe from an Azerbaijani lorry driver, calling his Daghestani colleagues ‘fools’.
‘Don’t look at these fools, the Daghestanis, who tell you things at the checkpoint
Lorry drivers in Daghestan, who ended a month long strike on 28 April, warned the government on 11 May that if their demands are not met, they will go back on strike.
‘MPs of the State Duma met with us. They promised us that they would solve our problems. They asked for time for that. We gave them time — two months’, Rustam Mallamagomedov, one of the strikers told OC Media.
Russia-wide protests against the ‘Platon’ road tax began on 27 March. In the North Caucasus, Daghestani lorry driver
On 28 April, Daghestani lorry drivers ended their strike against the ‘Platon’ road tax. The strike lasted 33 days in total.
One protester, Abdurashid Samarov, told OC Media that they decided to end the strike after meeting with State Duma deputies on 28 April.
‘We wanted to pass on our demands personally to the deputies, and they listened to us. They can’t abolish “Platon”, but they are trying to meet our conditions at a regional level’, Samadov said.
Lorry drivers began to disperse on
Protesting
