Moldovan premier chairs meeting on fighting illicit transport

Chisinau, 25 April /MOLDPRES/ - Solutions to fight the illicit transport of passengers and goods was discussed at a working meeting at the government today, chaired by Prime Minister Pavel Filip, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.   

The PM said that the scope of this phenomenon imposed a more rigorous application of the present legal levers and mechanisms of interconnection between competent institutions, in order to ensure the security of citizens in the traffic, protect the loyal competition and provide fair contributions to the state budget.   

In the context, Pavel Filip stressed the importance to apply well-known mechanisms at the international level, in order to identify the authorized transport, such as the providing of yellow registration numbers for the authorized transport, applying tougher sanctions for illegal practicing of the entrepreneurial activity, establishment of transparent regulations in this sector, so that there are no administrative obstacles to legalizing the business. “We want everybody to work in the same conditions, with the thing being valid for the carriers of passengers. They should act based on the authorization/licence and pay taxes to the state. The fines in this respect should be tough and the rules and laws must be observed,” the PM said.   

As for the illegal transport of passengers in international traffic, the prime minister stressed the need of cooperation between the Transports and Roads Infrastructure Ministry (MTID), Customs Service and Border Police, in order to permanently exchange information facilitating the identification of illegal providers of motor services. The PM emphasized that the passengers should not suffer, they should be aware of the importance of safety in transport, including in terms of protection of their rights in the capacity of consumers of transport services. In this respect, Pavel Filip asked to create a working group, due to come up with necessary solutions to overcome the present problems.         

A special subject of the discussions regarded the action plan on fighting the illicit transport in 2017-2020, elaborated by MTID and the National Road Transport Agency. “We must fight against this phenomenon by fair means, jointly established. Our approach should be intelligent, in order to create a system with clear-cut, transparent rules and monitoring actions based on risks management,” the prime minister added. Following the discussions, the participants in the meeting ruled that this action plan should be discussed on the Economics Ministry’s platform, with the involvement of all interested sides.