Truckers stop their strike in Kayakent
Over 400 drivers of heavy-duty vehicles, protesting near the Dagestani village of Kayakent and demanding to abolish the "Platon" system of toll highways, have stopped their strike.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Dagestan, starting from November 15, truckers are on strike within the framework of the All-Russian protest action, by parking their heavy-duty trucks on the highway shoulders. The strike venues are Khasavyurt, Kizlyar, Kayakent and the village of Manas of the Karabudakhkent District. Power agents are deployed near the venues; and drivers reported detentions of strikers and attempts to disperse the action.
Truck drivers from a number of Russian regions, including the Volgograd Region, protest against the system introduced on November 15 for collection of tolls from trucks for the use of roads of federal significance. Carriers treat the tolls as too high and point to the lack of infrastructure for the control over the system "Platon", introduced for collection of tolls.
As stated by the protesters in Kayakent, they "have justified all their demands and decided to suspend the action near Kayakent." Truckers are planning to hold a general meeting and decide on what they will do next, one of the protesters told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
In their conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, truckers reported that "there were no clashes with the police." At the same time, they noted that they had asked other truck drivers passing on the highway to join the protest.
"However, policemen did not allow us to stop other trucks; they also did not let them to stop," a protester told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to his story, "the strikers parked their trucks at parking lots and joined their colleagues on strike near Manas".
Today, truckers also met the Prime Minister of Dagestan; however, the results of negotiations are not known yet, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.