DRIVERS' PROTEST AS SHARED FIGHT ACROSS ENTIRE ECONOMY

SARAJEVO, JANUARY 23 /SRNA/ – The Logistics BiH Consortium announced that the planned protest by professional drivers is not a struggle limited solely to road transport operators, but a joint fight of the entire economic system, as road transport represents the backbone of inbound and outbound supply chains in BiH and the wider region.

The Consortium called on employers' associations, export and import companies, chambers of commerce, and sectoral associations to actively engage and publicly support demands aimed at protecting the rights of professional drivers, stressing that this also means protecting the interests of the real sector and the economy of BiH. "Regardless of whether we are talking about import flows /raw materials, energy products, intermediate goods/, export flows /industrial and agricultural products/, upstream or downstream logistics processes, there is no realistic or rapid substitute for road transport," the Consortium stated. The statement emphasizes that eliminating or seriously restricting the operations of domestic road transport companies would automatically result in supply disruptions, contract losses, production delays, price increases, and market instability. The Consortium warned that disruptions in supply chains and forced reliance on alternative solutions would lead to transport cost increases of up to 70 percent compared to current road transport prices, while domestic exporters and importers would become hostages to pricing and capacity availability, as foreign operators and intermediaries take control of the market without any obligation to ensure long-term stability. "In other words, the loss of domestic transport operators means losing control over our own supply chains," the Consortium stressed, adding that domestic road carriers, employers, exporters, and importers share the same goals, depend on one another, and bear the joint consequences of institutional inaction. The Logistics BiH Consortium, which brings together transport operators, announced a regional protest of the transport sector on Monday, January 26, at EU freight border crossings, due to accumulated problems related to drivers' stays in Schengen countries, the latest of which is the new EU entry system.