Balkans truck protests against EU rules risk fuel shortages

BELGRADE/SARAJEVO, Jan 28 (Reuters) – The Western Balkans truck drivers’ blockades of cargo terminals on borders with EU countries this week have brought risks of fuel shortages and business losses as they protest against restrictive EU entry rules.

Truckers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia launched protests on Monday against the EU’s new, stricter entry-exit system under which they face detention and deportation for exceeding Schengen visit limits.

Montenegro’s energy ministry warned late on Tuesday that country could face fuel shortages due to a blockade at the Adriatic port of Bar, the main entry point for overseas fuel imports into the Montenegro, which has no oil refining capacity of its own. The port also holds it largest fuel depots.

Blockades of border crossings in the four countries have halted transport along a critical road corridor linking the EU with Turkey and the Middle East.

In Bosnia, businesses have lost about 8 million euros ($9.55 million) since Monday and the losses could reach 22 million euros if the protests last for a week or more, according to a Foreign Trade Chamber survey published on Wednesday.

The Montenegrin Energy Ministry warned that oil companies have estimated that current fuel supplies had effectively been reduced to the fuel available at petrol stations, which would allow the market to operate for only a few more days.

Montenegrin police said earlier the truckers have a permit to protest until midday on Thursday.

DRIVERS DEMAND EU ACTION

In the last year, more than 100 Bosnian truck drivers were deported for exceeding the 90 days they were allowed to stay in the EU, with another 100 deportations announced last week, said the Logistika association, which represents 47,000 transport workers.

“We demand that the European Union urgently stops the discrimination of Bosnian truck drivers,” said Zijad Saric, a transporter. “We are neither migrants, nor illegal workers, nor tourists.”

Logistika members said on Wednesday the drivers would extend the protests until the government fulfils other demands relating to a refund of excise taxes on oil, a return of VAT and a reduction of motorway tolls for truckers.

The Bosnian truckers have staged protests since last year, demanding government support for the transportation sector.

($1 = 0.8375 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade and Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by Ros Russell)