The transporters in Moldova demand that the fares be increased. They threaten to stage protests if the Ministry of Transport and Road Management does not satisfy their request, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a letter, the presidents of the Association of Motor Passenger Transporters and the Federation of Transport and Road Workers of Moldova request that the ministry adjust the transportation fares to the current costs of minimum 0.4 lei per km in transport units with upholstered seats and of 0.42 lei per km in transport units with non-upholstered seats by January 18. In the open letter addressed to the Minister of Transport and Road Management Vasile Ursu, the two organisations say that the fare adjustment issue was discussed at the twelfth Congress of the Union of Motor Carriers and Road Workers of 14 December 2007, where the minister promised to adjust the charges by the end of 2007. The fares were adjusted the last time in 2006, but the price of a litre of diesel oil meanwhile increased from 10.1 lei to 11.85 lei (+17.3%). The minimum salary rose from 450 lei to 900 lei and, correspondingly, the deductions to the social insurance fund also increased; the tires and spare parts grew dearer at least three times; the fixed sinking funds increased fivefold, according to the renewal needs of the bus park, and the ten-year ceiling was fixed on the import of buses, the letter sys. At the same time, during the last years the Ministry of Transport and Road Management opened a large number of new routes and as a result the buses are not used to fully capacity, the letter reads. The transporters warn of the created tense situation as they cannot cover the expenses from the present fares and say that the misunderstandings can lead to confrontations, conflicts at work, distrust in the statements made by the state authorities.