Russians protest over car import tariffs

Some 500 motorists rallied in Russia's far east Saturday to protest the government's decision to raise car import tariffs, and thousands others are expected to stage similar demonstrations across Russia Sunday. The wave of protests may serve as a harbinger of much broader discontent among the Russians accustomed to years of strong economic growth and consumer boom.

The Russian government is grappling with the worst economic crisis in a decade, as oil prices tank, the ruble slides and unemployment steadily creeps up.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday that the tariffs were designed to prop up demand for Russian-made cars and secure jobs in the ailing Russian auto industry.

But Morozov, a 21-year-old university student who's been gunning up support for the Moscow protest on YouTube, said Russian cars just aren't any good.

Foreign cars "are much better than those produced in our country, and they are affordable for average people," he said. "It's not like I earn millions of dollars and can ride around in a new Audi like our president or Duma deputies."

The tariff hike would send prices for used foreign-made cars up 50 percent, while prices for new foreign-made cars could jump up to 15 percent. The move will not affect cars produced in Russia by foreign companies.

Motorists in Vladivostok, the main port on Russia's Pacific coast which is the key hub for cars imported from Japan, would suffer more than others. With local industries in demise since the Soviet collapse, many residents of the economically struggling region depend on car import business to earn their living.

Participants in Saturday's protest carried slogans such as "Putin, fight the oligarchs, not the people!" and played Soviet-era war and revolutionary songs.

Motorists in over 40 Russian cities are to take to the streets Sunday to urge the cancellation of the tariff hike.