An attempt by several truckers to enter the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD) near Leningradskoye Shosse was intercepted by the police, Russian news reported Friday.
The trucks blocked four of the five road lanes, but media reported that traffic police vehicles ultimately caused the traffic jam.
A blockade of police vehicles and trucks resulted in a 9.8 kilometer long traffic jam on the Moscow Ring Road, Moskva news agency reported.
Truckers are protesting the Platon system, a new tax collection system for trucks weighing over 12 tons when they use federal highways.
Accounts differ on the exact number and current location of truckers prepared to blockade, but media reported that truckers had gathered at Mega Malls in cities near Moscow.
On Thursday, drivers' labor union leader Alexander Kotov said that truck drivers from Dagestan, St. Petersburg, Kursk and Tula were going to participate in the demonstration, Moskva news agency reported. Kotov claimed that there are about 200 trucks from Dagestan near Moscow and ready to start the blockade.
Anti-Platon activists from Volgograd also confirmed to The Moscow Times that they have arrived to Moscow Region. They have declined to comment on their plans and said on Friday that the demonstration time and place was still being negotiated.
A truck driver demonstration in Moscow was planned for Nov. 30, but the event was cancelled after police repeatedly intercepted trucks en route to the capital.
