YEKATERINBURG, Russia — Some 150 Communist Party members have demonstrated in front of the Sverdlov Oblast parliament in Yekaterinburg to demand a change in a bill giving car owners an exemption on a transportation tax, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports.
The protesters surrounded the building on May 17 holding 150 paper horses to symbolize their call for an exemption in the car tax for all vehicles with less than 150 horsepower.
Local parliament deputy Yevgeny Artyukh of the Communist Party arrived at the protest on horseback and waving a large red flag.
The original bill included an exemption for cars with less than 100 horsepower, which includes only a small number of vehicles.
But the parliament approved the bill today in its original form, abolishing the transportation tax for owners of cars with engines producing less than 100 horsepower.
The legislation was authored by deputies from the ruling United Russia party.
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