Road carriers have submitted ten requests to the future government

The Association of Croatian Road Carriers (UHCP) submitted ten requests from road carriers to the future Government of the Republic of Croatia at a press conference in Varaždin on Monday to increase their competitiveness.

Among the ten requests, the president of the Association, Dragutin Kranjčec, emphasized the necessity of drafting laws and regulations concerning traffic safety in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the re-establishment of the Road Transport Administration within that ministry.

The Association particularly insists on the permit for the import of labor, as the liberalization of the market has led to a shortage of quality labor, specifically drivers. Kranjčec explains that this is a proposal to allow the import of 500 drivers for the next year. The Association also highlights that they will seek permission to import drivers from the countries of the former Yugoslavia, given that importing labor from EU countries also carries a language barrier.

Vladimir Jurčec from the Association emphasized the importance of requests for reducing fees for technical inspections and abolishing the monopoly of certain associations with public authority and opening the market.

– We demand the abolition of the monopoly of the Vehicle Center of Croatia because neighboring countries have at least 4 or 5 such companies, while we have the Vehicle Center of Croatia. This is a private company that had over 70 million kuna in profit last year. The monopoly of the Vehicle Center of Croatia must end regardless of who is in power – stated Jurčec, adding requests for the abolition of preventive technical inspections and enabling the homologation of new vehicles only upon presentation of the necessary documentation, without the need to bring in a newly purchased vehicle.

Darko Vukadinović presented a set of requests related to fuel and excise duties. Thus, the Association seeks a refund of part of the excise duties on diesel fuel for economic entities in public transport of goods and passengers by road, as well as the use of blue diesel in the tanks of refrigerated vehicles. The Association also seeks subsidies for the purchase of vehicles with high ecological standards and incentives for the purchase of standalone air conditioning units for commercial vehicles powered by electricity.

The leaders of the Association agreed that fulfilling these requests is essential, not only for competitiveness compared to road carriers in neighboring countries but also for their survival.

The Association hopes to find a partner for discussions and agreements in the next government, although they are skeptical that a qualified person will head the relevant ministry, as they state this has not happened so far. The Association also expects to have two representatives in the next term of the Parliamentary Committee for Maritime Affairs, Transport, and Communications – one for the transport of goods and one for the transport of passengers.

Finally, they warned all those who are starting their election campaigns these days to keep in mind that the transport sector employs thousands of people, who along with their families make up about 100,000 voters.