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The government is considering a plan to allocate € 100 million to carriers as a subsidy or indirectly as tax incentives for the purchase of new trucks. In parallel, the government has firmly decided that if drivers continue their protest on the highways it will take measures and will arrest them for blocking the traffic. At the same time, it will grant licenses to the trucks of private companies to transport goods of third parties to open the market and supply products to it.

The Ministry of Infrastructure is considering the measure to withdraw the old trucks and give € 100 million to carriers to buy new trucks over the next three years, while their profession will still be closed. Preference will be given to new owners who have one or two trucks and bought licenses in recent years. According to the Ministry, this would balance the loss from the licenses devaluation of about 60% -70% after the transitional period of three years expires.

After the law on the liberalisation of the profession was voted yesterday, the drivers left the protest in front of the Parliament and went to the trucks parked along the highways around Athens. The presidents of the truckers’ unions have decided yesterday evening to continue their protests today.

Already 34 companies in the Attica region stopped working and let their employees on furlough due to the blocked market. According to the President of the Union of Hellenic Chambers Georgios Kasimatis, their number is double if counting the companies in the whole country. "The situation is dramatic. The exporting companies and given the poor economic situation can not serve their contracts and export the products. Meanwhile, chemical plants, producers of paints can not get raw materials as they are stuck in the containers..." said Mr. Kasimatis.

At the same time, the data of the union show that there is already lack of food, medicines and fuels on the Cycladic islands and those in the North Aegean Sea, but also in Macedonia. Producers of grapes for alcoholic drinks from different Greek regions are also experiencing difficulties to transport their production to the plants in Athens and Thessaloniki they have signed contracts with. Problems at the ports continue as yesterday 2850 containers remained locked at Piraeus and 3000 in Thessaloniki.  

The drivers’ strike caused problems with the supply of oxygen to the hospital in Mitylene. The cargo ship that was supposed to ship the load of oxygen did not want to make the shipment because there was only one truck bound for the island! The hospital administration turned to the Ministry of Health as this problem has put at risk the lives of patients. It was decided the ship to sail and the hospital to pay the price of 15,000 euros for the transport of the oxygen.