Motorists storm service centers

Before the New Years’ large lines have formed at service stations for an official checkup of motor vehicles.

The agiotage can be observed at many service centers, drivers take the lines as early as at 7 a.m. At Beltekhosmotrs they say that in the recent year there were fewer cars in December than in October-November. Specialists link the agiotage to the introduction of a state duty expected to be linked to passing an official checkup, onliner.by reports.

- Now those are coming in large numbers, who has to take a checkup early next year or even in the middle of the year, - the employees of a service center shared. – In the line the drivers are discussing the introduction of the state duty.

The agiotage started after the “members of the House of Representatives” approved of the raft law in two readings. However, it has not yet been finally adopted. The hearing in the parliament’s upper chamber is coming. It also has to be signed by Lukashenka. But drivers are already actively discussing the novelty.

We would remind that the state duty is expected to be dependent upon the weight and class of the car. For example, the owner of an Oka (it falls into the preferential rate group – 1 to 2 tons) will have to pay 390 thousand roubles. Four out of five car owners (who have cars between 2 and 3 tons) will have to annually pay 650 thousand roubles. Many cars of the executive level fall into the group of cars between 2 and 3 tons: BMW 7-Series, Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8 as well as most crossovers. Their owners will have to pay 910 thousand roubles a year. Cars heavier than 3 tons are rare for Belarus. Those are large SUVs like Hummer H2. The state duty for their owners will account for 1.3 million roubles. Separately the duty will have to be paid for trailers, motorcycles and scooters (120 thousand roubles). Another thing is if the car is registered for an organization – the rates are somewhat higher in this case.

After the rates were announced, internet forum users calculated that it was very advantageous to take a checkup now. Currently a checkup is worth of approximately 150 thousand roubles. Even if the draft law passes, since January 1 the owner of an SUV over 3 tons will have to pay 2.6 million for a road permission for 2 years. If such a big car is registered for an organization, then the rate will reach 3.38 million. This only heated the agiotage with rumors circulating of a possible increase of the basic unit, used for calculating the fees.

- To be honest, we did predict such a situation, - the said at Beltekhosmotr. – The order was made to extend the working hours and cancel days off. The next week may become the most intensive for us in the year.

In the meanwhile, car owners are going to hold a protest action “Stop-tax”. It will take place on 20 December at 18.00 in Niezalezhnasci Avenue in Minsk. In other cities the protest will take place in main squares.

Minsk residents encourage car owners on social networks to start moving towards Independence Square at 17.30 from any direction. Exactly at 18.00 the participants are encouraged to slow down, turn on the emergency signal and honk. Pedestrians are also encouraged to support the action.