On September 7, 2004, in Kyiv, opposite the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, a protest action by representatives of the taxi drivers' trade union of Ukraine will take place, the purpose of which will be to warn taxi owners to the people's deputies of Ukraine regarding the adoption in parliament of two draft laws concerning changes in the regulation of transport services. \n On this occasion, yesterday a press conference for local media was held in Lutsk, in which the head of the Volyn regional organization of the taxi drivers' trade union of Ukraine, Anatoliy Baidokha, and the head of the taxi drivers' service, Oleksandr Lykhach, took part. As the participants of the press conference noted, according to the relevant draft laws, changes in legislation are envisaged related to increasing penalties for taxi owners, the mandatory installation of electronic fiscal taximeters, and the quoting by local authorities of vehicles providing transportation services. \n According to Anatoliy Baidokha, an electronic cash register for a private taxi is unnecessary, since the presence of the latter contradicts the Law of Ukraine "On the Single Tax." Also, according to Mr. Baidokha, there are many aspects that do not allow a taxi driver to simply purchase such a device. The cost of the latter ranges from 350 to 500 USD. The installation of electronic fiscal taximeters, according to Lutsk taxi drivers, will increase the cost of transportation services by 30% and increase the expenses of the carriers themselves. According to the participants of the press conference, in some cities of Ukraine there are already cases when clients order taxi services without a taximeter. \n As for the provisions of the relevant draft laws that envisage quoting by executive bodies of vehicles providing transportation services (determination of the number of carriers by local authorities), then according to Anatoliy Baidokha, officials with meager salaries, who will have to decide the fate of many people, will resort to corrupt actions. \n As the head of the taxi drivers' service, Oleksandr Lykhach, noted, at present taxi owners do not have the opportunity to purchase new vehicles (after all, according to these draft laws, old vehicles will simply be removed from the services market by local authorities – author), therefore the latter simply need support from the executive authorities in the form of providing loans. \n \n \n