MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. Private carriers knew in advance about the introduction of fees for trucks, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said in a TV interview on Wednesday.

Now they are trying to influence the decisions that were taken a long ago, he said.

Sokolov said that the decision on introduction of fees for trucks was implemented "in accordance with federal law, which was passed by the State Duma (lower house of parliament) even in 2011".

In June 2013, the government determined the main approaches to the procedure for charging heavy vehicles, he said.

On Wednesday, truck drivers in Russian regions held protest campaigns against charging trucks.

From November 15, a special payment is introduced to compensate damage caused to public highways of federal importance by trucks with a permissible maximum mass exceeding 12 tonnes. To monitor movement of trucks on federal highways cars with photo and video devices will be used, as well as cameras installed along the roads. It is expected that the collection of payments will bring 40 billion rubles ($612 mln) to the federal road fund.