The toll system was supposed to provide BGN 1 billion of road revenue annually - money to maintain the road infrastructure in Bulgaria in a normal state. After a year and a half of discussions, the estimated revenue is now reduced to less than BGN 500 million annually, BNT reported.
After the state made concessions to carriers twice and reduced the size of the charge per kilometre and excluded the entire second-class road network from toll system scope, carriers now demand a third concession: delaying the introduction of the system due to on-board devices.
The carriers do not agree to pay rent for the on-board devices of the two companies - national suppliers. They estimated that the rents in Bulgaria would be several times higher than those in Europe and that this would cost them BGN 15 million. The state, however, this time is firm that the toll system will start operating on March 1st.
Magdalena Miltenova from the Confederation of Bus Carriers explained that carriers said that on March 1 they will not service the lines covered by the toll system, as they will neither be able to equip their buses with on-board devices by then, nor will they be able to train their staff to work with the devices.
The Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) will decide next week on the request of Sofia Municipality for 151 km of roads to be taken out of the scope of the national road network and exempted from vignettes.