Automobile costs

Proceeds of BGN 1.5 B are expected from the introduction of the toll tax system in Bulgaria, announced the Director of the Road Infrastructure Agency Lazar Lazarov.

Lazarov specified that the funds will be used mainly for the construction and maintenance of roads.

Road tax is set to decrease for owners of used cars that were first registered in another European Union country, according to a Finance Ministry circular issued on Thursday.

For instance, a 1.6L car registered in Greece in 2004, after its first registration in France in 2000, will pay road tax of 250 euros for 2017, against 265 euros in 2016.

Construction truck drivers staged a protest on the recently opened third bridge over Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait on Sept. 5, arguing that they were asked to pay different fares at different times and demanding a discount on the bridge's passage fares. 

Bulgaria's anti-trust regulator has dismissed a complaint submitted by a local company against procedural rules and terms of a public tender for the introduction of a road toll collection system in the country.

Toll charges on some of Greece's highways will rise on June 1 due to the increase in the top rate of value-added tax from 23 to 24 percent.

Drivers will have to pay an extra 0.05 to 0.10 euros at some toll stations as a result of the price change.

There will be no increase in charges on the Egnatia Highway, which is still under fill state control.

An Infrastructure Ministry amendment to a bill on state cooperation with Iraq on Thursday is expected to lead to major changes in the calculation of highway toll charges. The new law creates a single framework for the application of a system of electronic tolls with charges proportionate to the distance vehicles cover on highways.

The Finance Ministry is bringing to Parliament a clause that will allow for the return of vehicle license plates with the payment of road tax by the month for owners who chose to hand over their plates to avoid paying the annual levy.

The National Association of Bus Transport in Bulgaria informs that coach companies will stage a protest bus procession in Sofia and Varna on Tuesday.

Between 100 and 150 buses are expected to take part in the procession, while other sources claim that around 200 coaches will participate in the protest.

Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency has called a public tender for an electronic toll collection system that will replace the existing vignette stickers attached to the windshields, Dnevnik news daily has reported.

Bulgarian Regional Minister Lilyana Pavlova forecasted that the introduction of toll roads in the country will double or triple the revenues generated from road charges.

The toll system will be applicable to cargo vehicles with a weight above 3.5 tonnes and drivers will be charged depending on the distance covered by them.