Anapa residents considered the mayor's initiative to check public transport fares to be belated.

Anapa Mayor Svetlana Maslova initiated an investigation by the Antimonopoly Service and Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) due to increased public transportation fares. Local residents considered this move belated, pointing out online that corruption in the transportation sector has been a problem for over a decade.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on June 16, Anapa authorities stated that they have no influence over public transportation fares. Local residents, commenting on this announcement on Telegram, noted that fares on certain routes have increased by 20 percent. They also criticized the quality of passenger transportation.

Anapa Mayor Svetlana Maslova stated that the city administration has grounds to demand that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and Rospotrebnadzor conduct investigations into the justification for carriers' price increases on public transport.

"Regarding tariff regulation, private carriers, as previously noted, have the right to increase fares. At the same time, the municipality has grounds to appeal to the FAS and Rospotrebnadzor to verify the justification for such a pricing policy. An appeal, at my request, has already been prepared," Maslova wrote on her Telegram channel on June 26.

This post on Svetlana Maslova's Telegram channel, which has approximately 13,600 subscribers, received 1,000 views as of 10:20 a.m. Moscow time on June 27. 48 user reaction tags and 41 comments.

"Private operators are operating under the table, preferring cash or wire transfers. That is, they operate without paying taxes and are clearly being patronized by someone in the administration. There are no air conditioners, passengers are treated rudely, and there are cases of people fainting from the heat," wrote a user with the nickname V.

"Call a spade a spade. Anapa's carriers are making black cash. Without any taxes. This scheme, which has been in operation for many years, cannot function without the city administration and tax authorities. It smacks of corruption," said a user with the nickname Prophet.

"The problem with passenger transport in Anapa is at least 15 years old. Every year, the local press raises this issue. And every administration promises to solve it. But no administration is willing to give up kickbacks." "Carriers. Just think about how much cash they receive, without accounting. According to official data, there are between three and five million tourists in Anapa," user Prorok noted in another comment.

"What you've calculated isn't profit, but revenue. Profit is achieved by subtracting expenses (costs) from revenue. In this case, that's fuel, spare parts, salaries, license fees, rent or garage maintenance, and so on. If you subtract everything, it's not all that impressive. The acquisition of fixed assets (buses) is usually financed by profits," Vyacheslav responded.

Some users noted the poor quality of passenger transportation. "Get your act together with bus 121! There are four towns on the line that are served exclusively by this route. They go whenever they want, and the schedule is unclear to others. It's impossible to leave the towns after 7:30 p.m. in the evening, even though the routes are scheduled. If the bus does arrive, it doesn't go back to the city—it rents a number and rushes past," wrote a user with the nickname Plantator.

"And the bus to bus 109 from Sukko runs once an hour, and even then, it's late. Why can't they add a minibus that would travel exclusively to Sukko and Utrish, at least in the summer? It's impossible in the heat—the bus is jam-packed with people," noted Irada A.

A journalist from [the newspaper] commented on Maslova's promise to solve the problem of rising public transport fares. Krasnodar's Andrey Koshik. "Svetlana Maslova did something that no Kuban official would ever dare to do – she declared war [on minibus operators]," he wrote on his Telegram channel on June 26.

In every city and district, there are several businessmen who monopolize the transportation market. Their collusion allows them to inflate fares, fail to update their fleets, and ignore safety requirements, Koshik noted. "If you try to become a carrier, you'll simply be banned. Criminal methods are also used," the journalist added.

As a reminder, fares on a number of routes were raised in Anapa on June 10. The fare on city routes is now 50 rubles. Baggage fees are 50% of the per-passenger ticket price. The fare from Anapa to Dzhiginka is 180 rubles, to Dzhiginka (highway) - 170 rubles, to Utasha - 130 rubles, to Vinogradny - 110 rubles.