Toll

The Road Infrastructure Agency of Bulgaria has relaunched the public procurement procedure to get a road toll system, its website shows.

The move, announced December 29, comes against the backdrop of a ban imposed by outgoing Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on calling new tenders or running current ones until the government in resignation is in office.

Turkey earned over 1.11 billion Turkish Liras ($318.2 million) from tolls collected on two bridges over Istanbul's Bosphorus and linking roads in the first 11 months of 2016, the country's highway directorate said Dec. 27.
      

Turkey earned 905.2 million Turkish Liras ($295.5 million) from tolls, including those on bridges over the Istanbul Strait, in the first nine months of 2016, according to the country's highway department.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Germany has introduced a road toll which requires foreign car drivers to pay up to EUR 130 a year for using the country's motorways.

The new fee, which will is scheduled to take effect in 2016, aims to secure funds for the maintenance of transport infrastructure, according to reports of EurActiv.

Ekaterina Zaharieva, Bulgaria's caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development and Investment Planning, has underscored the need to introduce a road toll system.

Zaharieva told journalists Thursday that a road toll system would guarantee adequate levy rates for the vehicles inflicting the highest degree of road damage, including as trucks and heavy machines.