Car Tolls at Danube Bridge 2 May Drop by 50%

Hristo Monev, Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board of Danube Bridge 2 Vidin - Calafat AD, has suggested that the car tolls could be reduced by 50%.

In a Friday interview for the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), Monev informed that a 50% reduction in car tolls to EUR 3 was feasible, taking into account the fact that monthly revenues stood at EUR 1 M, of which 5%, or EUR 50 000, were car tolls, on which VAT was levied in both directions.

He claimed that the measure would boost car traffic along Danube Bridge 2, making car toll rates equal to the rates at Danube Bridge 1 Ruse - Giurgiu.

Monev specified that Bulgarian carriers accounted for the biggest group of freight vehicles to cross Danube Bridge 2 in both directions, at 60-65% of the total, followed by Polish carriers, at 12-14%, Turkish carriers at 8-10%, and Romanian carriers at 5-6%.

He added that monthly revenues from tolls collected at Danube Bridge 2 in both directions amounted to EUR 850 000 - EUR 1.25 million.

He also noted that over 500 000 vehicles had crossed the bridge in both directions in the period June 15, 2013 - end-September 2014, stressing that statistics confirmed the forecasts made by the different consultants.

Monev emphasized that the total number of cars which had crossed the bridge in the period July - September 2014 had increased by 25-30% on an annual basis.

He also explained that freight vehicles weighing over 12 tonnes accounted for 40-45% of the total traffic along Danube Bridge 2.

Monev announced that a new passenger train would start running along the route Sofia-Vidin-Budapest in early winter and expressed hopes that it would be busier than the existing line Craiova - Golentsi - Vidin.