Romanian PM assures farmers' and truckers' protests will end in "a couple of days"

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu assured that the street protests of farmers and truckers will end in "a couple of days" because "99%" of the issues raised by the farmers were settled and negotiations are advanced with the insurance companies for settling the third-party liability insurance (RCA) problem raised by the truckers. He made the statements in an interview with television station Antena 3.

The protests crippled the traffic at the customs, along the large cities' belt roads, at the entry to Constanta Port.

However, even if some industry associations may back PM Ciolacu's optimistic view, the protests are not organized centrally by such associations. On the upside, attempts of the far-right parties AUR and SOS to use the protests for electoral purposes were mostly rejected by the farmers and truckers.

The representative of the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation (AAC), Marius Micu, announced on the evening of January 15, at the end of the negotiations with the ministry, that "a satisfactory agreement was reached on the farmers' claims and a decision will probably be taken to suspend the protests."

The statement was not confirmed by the farmers with the tractors and other vehicles in Afumați, at the entry in Bucharest.

The Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation, the largest organization of Romanian farmers, which includes four of the big federations, sent on Monday, January 15, a list of 14 requests with implementation deadlines. If they are not accepted by the Government, AAC threatens to trigger an authorized national protest.

The Confederation of Authorized Operators and Transporters in Romania (COTAR) analyzed the protestors' claims and concluded that 70% of them can be resolved within a reasonable time. "The proposals are pertinent, some being very urgent and necessary," the confederation concluded. But important issues are still in limbo.

"Regarding the capping of the RCA price at a level of RON 4,500 (EUR 900) for the B0 bonus class - we believe that the initiative, in this form, cannot be implemented for two reasons: a) that level is unsustainable if we still want that RCA policy to be able to compensate for damages caused by accidents. City Insurance sold RCA policies at that price level and went bankrupt, producing huge losses in this market. Also (b), the long-term capping of a price goes against European legislation, and such a measure cannot be maintained even in the medium term."

(Photo: Octav Ganea/ Inquam Photos)