Support The Moscow Times!

Motorists Rally Against Increased Car Import Tariffs

Dozens of motorists rallied in several cities nationwide last week to protest the government's decision to raise car import tariffs, Ekho Moskvy radio station reported.

The rallies took place in several cities across the country on Thursday, including St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Irkutsk and Chita, Ekho Moskvy said.

It said several dozen people in each of the cities participated in the protests. Police did not move to disperse protesters, but at least one activist was detained in St. Petersburg.

Olga Kurnosova, who heads St. Petersburg's branch of the United Civil Front, an umbrella group of opposition movements, told Ekho Moskvy that she was detained on charges of breaching rules for holding the rally. She denounced her arrest as a "cowardly" move by authorities.

The rallies follow a wave of similar protests last month, including one in Vladivostok that was brutally dispersed by police. The government raised tariffs on imported automobiles last month in an attempt to bolster flagging domestic car production. The move particularly angered people in the Far East and Siberia because many work for car import businesses, and the public often buys relatively cheap, secondhand Japanese cars because they find them more reliable than Russian-made ones.

The protests have presented a rare challenge to authorities, who have faced little threat from the fragmented opposition and politically apathetic population during the years of oil-driven economic boom.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more