The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria /KRIB/ - The voice of Bulgarian business - expresses its support for the adoption of the proposed bill, which envisages the creation of the Bulgarian Automobile Chamber.
In our opinion, the creation of a motor vehicle chamber is of great importance not only for the transport sector, but also for the entire Bulgarian economy. With its share of more than 15% of GDP, about 17 companies with a license for transport activity / cargo and passenger transport / and about 000 employees, the industry represents a significant part of the country's economy. Apart from that, it is closely related to many other industries such as forwarding and logistics activities, warehouse logistics, leasing and other financial institutions, insurance, importers of transport equipment, suppliers of spare parts, fuels and others. The growth of the industry in the last 200 years is several times higher than the average for the country.
In order to maintain the reached level and continue its positive development, it needs a good organization of activity, and in particular - a body that competently and timely solves extremely painful problems, as well as adequately reacts to the accelerating protectionism within of the European Union.
The BAK Law will contribute to unity in the priorities of the industry, as well as to the representativeness and protection of each carrier, regardless of the scale of its carrier activity. Now, out of 17 transport companies, only less than 000 / about 700% / are members of trade associations. The remaining 4% are not represented in an organization and accordingly cannot receive branch protection, qualified legal and other specialized assistance when carrying out their activities in the European Union.
The creation of the BAC with the powers provided for in the draft law will also be extremely important for the interests of users - legal entities and individuals, related to the requirements and control over the technical suitability and safety of the means of transport, their maintenance during the license term. In the frequent cases of buses breaking down while driving, catching fire and crashing, resulting in human casualties, the chamber will appear as a solid guarantee for the prevention of such incidents.
Other results will be achieved in the direction of the development of the transport industry:
First of all, it will be more effective to oppose protectionist actions on the part of "Old Europe", the highest point of which for now is the so-called "Macron Law".
KRIB highly appreciates the efforts of the people's representatives and the government in protecting the interests of Bulgarian carriers, but it also realizes that the regulation of the industry in the EU is not a one-time act and will continue at a high pace in the next few years. The probability that most proposals from Western European countries represent a real threat to the interests of the Bulgarian transport business is expectedly increasing. Concerns about protectionism are also present regarding Turkey and Russia.
The possibility of the chamber's management board proposing to the Minister of Transport not to issue or withdraw licenses will be a manifestation of self-regulation of the industry and will lead to a large extent in dealing with the problem of the so-called "post boxes". These are companies that imitate activity and stay in Bulgaria, but in reality they are foreign - from the countries of Old Europe and neighboring countries outside the EU - carrying out activities on their territories. The actions of these shell companies are at the heart of the measures in the so-called "Macron law". At the same addresses of law and accounting offices, hundreds of companies with the subject of activity "road transport" are registered. The case of the 177 companies established at the address of a Kyustendil law office is striking. The IAAA does not have the personnel resources and motivation to deal with the problem and it has become a problem for the entire EU.
The creation of BAK will also create conditions for better dealing with the lack of qualified labor and especially drivers for international transport. The Chamber, as a union of all business, will have better opportunities for educational qualification, promotion of the profession, creation of permanent jobs with good working conditions and pay.
Last but not least, the chamber will also create more guarantees for the prevention of corrupt practices and scandals, which over the years have increasingly occurred in the Executive Agency "Automotive Administration".
KRIB has expressed its opinion on the discussed concept for the creation of the Bulgarian Automobile Chamber / ex. No. 359-00-359 dated 14.12.2017/, which supports and hereby upgrades.
KRIB supports the opinion of the largest branch organizations in transport BASAT and Union of International Carriers regarding the expediency and legal validity of the proposed bill.
Appendix: KRIB's opinion on the concept of creating an automobile chamber.
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