Bus tickets may increase in price by up to 20% if fuel prices continue to rise, predict the transport industry on the Southern Black Sea coast. Transporters are already reporting a serious increase in costs – just two months ago fuel accounted for about 30% of them, and now its share reaches 40 percent.
On the Southern Black Sea coast, the tourist season is currently helping transport companies to compensate for some of the higher costs and ticket prices are holding up. However, the situation is more serious in the interior of the country and on the lines to small settlements, some of which are already being served at a loss. The industry warns that if fuel remains expensive, the increase in bus tickets could be between 10 and 20%.
Anton Hristov, manager of a transport company: "Fuel continues to grow so rapidly. I'll give you an example. Today it was 1.94 euros per liter on average, and there are places where it is 1.97 euros per liter, which is an extremely large difference. This is an average increase of 12% from three months ago, when it was 1.72 - 1.74. The state is obliged and I believe it will intervene, but the reaction must be immediate, and not delay decisions that are dependent on many people to get to their jobs and families."