Tanker truck owners are staging vigorous protests against the Ministry of Transportation’s decision to take their vehicles out of service. Speaking on the “Alpha News” program, Christodoulos Christodoulou, spokesperson for the Association of Gas Station Owners, explained the impasse faced by 288 professionals in the industry.

The root of the problem lies in a 2008 European regulation on the harmonization of tanker trucks with ADR safety standards (transport of dangerous goods). Mr. Christodoulou complained that the Cypriot government at the time did not request exemptions, as other countries did, but instead reassured the industry.

“They told us to hire an ADR consultant, whom you’d pay 300 euros a year… and we let our guard down,” he said, noting that a new tanker truck now costs about 120,000 euros, a fact that makes immediate replacement financially unfeasible.

He also mentioned that the current Minister of Transportation signed a decree rendering non-compliant tanker trucks invalid, without allowing any time for compliance.

“The Minister is unyielding. He tells us clearly: ‘I’m not taking responsibility; I don’t want to go to jail,’” said Mr. Christodoulou, while also accusing the Minister of preventing officials from requesting a 5-year exemption from the EU, while other countries were securing continuous extensions without taking vehicles off the road.

At present, the operation of these fuel tankers is considered illegal, a fact that threatens to paralyze the market.

“Today we’re barely managing to serve the public. But when winter comes, we won’t be able to keep them on the road every day,” he warned, emphasizing that hotels, farms, the agricultural sector, and households are at risk of being left without heating and fuel.

In response to the measures, industry professionals are planning a mass protest in Nicosia next Tuesday.

“We’ll all gather at the GSP. There are 288 tanker trucks, and we’ll try to bring them all to Nicosia. We’ll head toward the Presidential Palace,” said Mr. Christodoulou, appealing to the President of the Republic to review their letter and meet with them to find a phased replacement solution, similar to the one implemented in Greece.