All roads lead to Moscow. That’s the message being given by hundreds of truck drivers across Russia who are staging massive protests against a new transport tax, called the platon. The platon took effect on November 15 and charges drivers a fee of 1.53 rubles (about $0.02) for each kilometer they drive.
The tax is to be collected by Arkady Rotenberg, a childhood friend of President Vladimir Putin, and his son Igor—for a 20 percent commission. While the official press services claim that the money is deposited directly into the Federal Highway Fund, many Russians are suspicious of the involvement of another Putin crony.
Opponents of the tax claim it could raise transportation costs 15 to 20 percent. And truckers, many of whom own and operate their own vehicles, complain that compliance with the new regulation will cost them thousands of dollars each year.
Now Russian truck drivers around the country have begun staging informal protests by parking along the sides of the road and refusing to work, or forming long caravans that push car traffic into a single lane or block it altogether.
On Sunday, the drivers turned their protest towards Moscow, driving two abreast at around 5 miles per hour to create what they deem an ulitka, or snail. They’ve already clogged highways across much of the country and are now threatening to choke highways surrounding the capital unless their demands are met.
At the moment, the protests lack a formal leader. Instead they represent one of the broadest grassroots protests seen in Russia in recent years. Like the Ukrainian Euromaidan protestors before them, the drivers are using social media to voice their frustration, posting YouTube videos of their complaints and the long convoys snaking across the country. In some cities, drivers of regular cars have even joined in.
The sheer scope of the protests is shown by Anti-Platon, a site created and managed by the protestors, which maps police roadblocks, arrests and “snails” across the country. The map shows strikes across most of the country, from Irkutsk in Siberia to protests and arrests in Saint Petersburg and along the shores of the Caspian and Black Seas.
The site also links to a list of drivers’ demands, beginning with the repeal of the platon and the imposition of economic sanctions against the Rottenbergs.
In response to the protests, the Russian government preemptively decreased the tax rate for 2016, a move that did little to placate the frustrated drivers. More ominously, one Russian paper is reporting that the state Duma has expedited passage of a law classifying any “organized public display of opinions by a group of citizens with the use of any propaganda tools while driving vehicles” as a public protest. If passed, the law would create a $4500 fine for those found to be in violation. But it remains to be seen whether the fines will jam these protests.
