On Monday March 27, protests took place against the "Plato" system in different parts of Russia. The drivers of the trucks stopped the delivery of consumer goods and parked them in parallel along the roads (partially blocking them) whilst the drivers attended rallies. Truck drivers from more than fifty regions of Russia are taking part in this all-Russian strike. The action is also supported by truckers of the Republic of Belarus, who are also ready to stop transportation across Russia during the strike.

"Plato" is the Russian system of taxing trucks which exceed the maximum permissible weight of 12 tons. From the moment the system was put into operation on November 15, 2015 money has been collected from haulage firms via bills for compensation for damage caused to the federal highways.

Protesting drivers of truckers are united in the organisation "Association of Carriers of Russia" (OPR). The "Association of Carriers of Russia" arose in the course of the struggle for the rights of haulage contractors, which began after the introduction of the "Plato" system on November 15, 2015. This protest is not proletarian, but largely petty-bourgeois, as the truckers mainly own their trucks; although there are hired workers among them.

Seeing the determination of the truck drivers to protest the Russian government offered partial concessions to the truck drivers on March 25. The increase in tax on trucks with a gross weight of more than 12 tons on federal routes would be only 25% and...