According to the minister, the tool will allow the National Agency for Road Transport (NART) to respond quickly to price fluctuations “without unnecessary bureaucracy” by directly adjusting tariffs. However, he found it difficult to answer the question of how exactly the cost of transportation will change.
“I think that by tomorrow at the latest, the NART will carry out all calculations, revise tariffs and announce by how much the cost per kilometer on national road sections will increase,” Bolea said.
The mechanism will be applied if fuel prices rise by more than 20 percent, although a different figure was previously indicated in the draft.
Currently, diesel fuel accounts for about 40% of carriers’ costs, and the fare increase will directly reflect these changes.
There are about 333 carriers operating more than 2,000 routes in Moldova, and the authorities believe that the measure will be an important support for businesses in this area.
At the same time, discussions have begun with the Ministry of Finance to develop compensation mechanisms, including possible partial reimbursement of costs to carriers to reduce the burden on passengers.
It should be noted that the draft approved by the Cabinet of Ministers suggests that for the period of sharp fluctuations in fuel prices, tariffs for inter-district and district regular passenger road transportation will be adjusted to take into account the rise in diesel fuel prices. NART will be able to set temporary tariffs for inter-district and district routes, which will be calculated on the basis of the current tariff on the route and the average price of diesel fuel for the last 7 days. Tariffs will be adjusted weekly depending on the officially approved price of diesel fuel. The draft notes that once prices stabilize, tariffs “may be revised”.
