Drivers' Protests Demanding Lower Gas Prices in Bulgaria Lead to Traffic Blockage - Reports

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A pressure valve is pictured at a natural gas control centre of Turkey's Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation - Sputnik International, 1920, 18.05.2022
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Transportation companies’ drivers staged protests across Bulgaria on Wednesday, leading to traffic blockades on some highways, Bulgaria’s Novinite news agency.
Earlier in the day, local media reported that public transport workers and truck drivers in the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia held protests demanding higher wages and lower gasoline prices, blocking three roads in the capital city.
“We expect to continue the constructive dialogue [with the Bulgarian authorities], we expect to achieve the necessary results and by then we will protest, we will defend our positions,” Magdalena Miltenova, the president of the Confederation of Bus Carriers, told the newspaper.
According to the news outlet, the drivers were demanding to reduce the excise tax on fuel and to ban introduction of new tolls. The truck drivers kept their promise not to block traffic on key highways of the country, the media added.
The protesters gave the government time until Sunday to meet their demands and if that does not happen, traffic on important roads in southwestern Bulgaria will be blocked on Monday, the newspaper added.
Since late February, the cost of fuel and gas on the European market has been showing strong volatility against the backdrop of Russia's military operation in Ukraine. In early March, fears of a possible Russian energy embargo in Europe drove fuel prices beyond historical highs.
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