TIRANA, October 21 /ATA/ Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku stated on Thursday that, “The government will launch an action beginning from Friday to crack down on informality in the public transport sector”.
Balluku held a meeting today with representatives of Inter-city Transport Associations, to discuss and find solutions to their problems and requirements, always focusing on increasing the quality of service to citizens.
She stressed that, “One of the main reasons for the financial problems that this sector is facing is the unfair competition that comes from unlicensed entities, or from private vehicles that do public transport.”
She stressed that, “We will start the struggle against informality immediately, as a first step to mitigate this big problem for years, but since the last two years during the pandemic, it has started flourishing again “.
Balluku said that at the request of the prime minister, there will be maximum attention on all transport operators, both those operating in the urban area and those in the inter-urban area.
“The Albanian government has a priority to support you in this difficult moment and this not only for the sector, but because you offer an essential service, such as transport of citizens. We understand the situation very well and you have to feel that there exists the goodwill, and we will find cooperation with all parties here,” she said.
“It is not only about this, but also about treatment and financial support. We understand that excise duty can be a help at least for a while, and we undertake to discuss it with the Ministry of Finance by making your lawyer. Even for the VAT refund, we have to put it on the table with experts and the Ministry of Finance and we will give you an answer”, said Balluku.
Following oil price increase, Union of Public Transport has reduced into half number of buses.
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