The Russian government has postponed its unpopular plan to increase road taxes for trucks for one year.
A resolution on the delay was signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on June 28 was posted on the government's website.
A road-tax system known as Platon was imposed in 2015, sparking a wave of protests by truckers, who have said it is an enrichment scheme rather than a genuine tax to improve roads.
Platon is managed by a company owned by a son of Arkady Rotenberg, a tycoon who was once President Vladimir Putin's judo sparring partner and is seen as a close ally.
An update of the system that would double the fee -- increasing it from 1.53 rubles ($0.03) to 3.06 rubles per kilometer -- has been postponed several times in the past.
In March 2017, amid truck drivers’ protests across the country, Medvedev issued a resolution increasing the tax by a more modest 25 percent immediately, making it 1.91 rubles per kilometer.
The introduction of the updated system that would increase the fee to 3.06 rubles per kilometer had been scheduled for introduction on July 1.
