About 20 minibuses did not go on their routes today in the regional center of Volyn. At around ten in the morning they parked on the square opposite the Lutsk City Council. In this way, according to Oleksandr Shamis, head of the public organization "Volyn Passenger Transport," Lutsk carriers decided to support the city authorities regarding the policy they are pursuing in working with them. Let me remind you that tomorrow the Lutsk City Executive Committee will consider the issue of raising the maximum fare level in the city's minibuses to one hryvnia. That is why, according to Mr. Shamis, they decided to hold the action today so that people would understand that this is a private business and it must be profitable. Mr. Shamis also stated that if the agreements are not upheld, the carriers will take harsh measures, that is, they will stop running through the city and will not serve Lutsk residents. By the way, the saga with fare increases began back in October of last year, when carriers appealed to the authorities with a request to revise transportation prices and raise the maximum level from 80 kopecks to one and a half hryvnias, due to the rising cost of fuel, spare parts, and vehicle maintenance. Thanks to negotiations between them and the authorities, which continued until now, a compromise was reached. Today, members of the Volyn branch of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, led by Oleh Maksymovych, who served as deputy mayor of Lutsk from 1990 to 1994, were also supposed to gather under the walls of the city hall. The participants of the picket intended to raise a number of social problems, problems related to road maintenance in the city, problems in the communal sector, and one of the problems was also the increase in minibus fares. Although, in the opinion of Oleksandr Shamis, these people are simply trying in this way to earn cheap popularity among certain segments of the population. Although Vitaliy Melnyk, a deputy of the Volyn Regional Council who is a member of this organization, when asked whether this action was a kind of opportunity to earn bonuses for the 2006 elections, answered that this was absolutely not the case. He noted that in time everyone will see who is who, and today they want to point out to the Lutsk city hall the problems that its employees should be concerned with. And those people who gathered for the picket have a constitutional right to defend their interests. In addition, Mr. Melnyk said that today in Lutsk, in his opinion, minibus fares are being raised unjustifiably, although he can understand the carriers. "To solve the problem, a consensus must be reached," he is convinced.