Transporters in Bosnia and Herzegovina who blocked freight traffic at several border crossings this morning will allow fuel to be imported into the country given that supplies are low, Nikola Brković from the “Logistika BiH” Consortium confirmed to BHRT.
“Following a meeting of the crisis staff with the Prime Minister and ministers of the RS government, a decision was made to release fuel due to low supplies because it is not in our interest for ordinary citizens to suffer and for trucks to be withdrawn from the borders between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia by mutual agreement,” said Nikola Brković from the “Logistika BiH” Consortium.
Representatives of the “Logistika BiH” Consortium spoke today with the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, Savo Minić. They invited representatives of the governments of the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska and the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a joint meeting on Wednesday, March 25, in Gradiška at 12 noon.
The President of the Consortium “Logistics BiH” Dino Durmić assessed that the meeting in the RS Government, which was also attended by the Minister of Transport and Communications of the RS Zoran Stevanović, was constructive.
“We worked on some technical issues where Prime Minister Minić specifically committed to immediately resolving some problems that are within his jurisdiction,” said Durmić.
He added that other problems are the responsibility of other institutions, and that is why he is inviting representatives of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Council of Ministers of BiH to talk.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Savo Minić said that representatives of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the ruling party in the RS of which he is a member, will be involved at all levels in resolving this problem.
“We also have a proposal to block the status of entry into the European Union until the problem of transporters is resolved,” added Minić.
He once again stated that the RS Government will not allow the border to be blocked, and that it understands the initiative and accepts the invitation of the Consortium “Logistics BiH” for a meeting on Wednesday.
This morning, the RS police did not allow the border to be blocked at the Gradiška border crossing, after the RS Government issued a conclusion late last night obliging members of the Ministry of Interior to ensure unhindered traffic.
At several border crossings, the presence of a large number of freight vehicles was recorded, with trucks parked along the roadway, and passenger traffic was proceeding without any delays.
At the Svilaj border crossing, the presence of a large number of freight vehicles was noticeable in a column of approximately one and a half kilometers.
Transporters gathered in the “Logistics BiH” Consortium are protesting primarily because of the restrictions on the stay of professional drivers in the EU, which, as they claim, directly threatens the survival of the transport sector in BiH.
In addition to resolving their status abroad, transporters are demanding that domestic institutions fulfill 17 previously agreed points, including the refund of part of the excise duties on fuel, the refund of VAT for international transport, and fiscal relief for the sector, BHRT writes.
