The Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Tomislav Momirovic, said that the prices of tolls will certainly not be increased this year, but that the losses of the public company Roads of Serbia cannot be paid by citizens and the economy, the portal Biznis.rs reported.
“It is indisputable that the revenue of the Roads of Serbia has dropped, because due to the pandemic, there was no traffic flow as in previous years. But, we cannot allow that burden to spill over to the citizens and the economy of Serbia,” Momirovic said.
Director of Roads of Serbia, Zoran Drobnjak, said that he would leave the decision on the amount of the toll increase, as well as on the time when it could happen, completely to the Government of Serbia.
“The Government of Serbia is the one that proposes to the Assembly amendments to the Law on Fees for the Use of Public Goods, and which also changes the price of tolls. They are acquainted with the results of the work of the Roads of Serbia and I am sure that, in accordance with that, they will make decisions on the price increase,” Drobnjak told Biznis.rs.
Toll prices in Serbia are among the lowest in Europe and have not changed since July 2019.
Tolls are charged on 820 kilometers of highways in Serbia.
“Revenues from tolls were reduced by 3.5 percent and the number of vehicles in road traffic by 5.4 million in the period January-July 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the volume of international transport was reduced: the total number of passenger vehicles that entered Serbia is lower by 7.9 percent, and the exit of passenger vehicles from Serbia is lower by 12.6 percent,” it is stated in the Program of economic reforms for the period 2021-2023, which was adopted by the Government of Serbia at the end of January this year and sent to the European Commission.
The government believes that it is necessary to adjust the price of the toll, so that it corresponds to the costs necessary for the maintenance of the road infrastructure.
“It is this harmonization that would contribute to an easier transition to the new system of regular road maintenance, based on performance, which has been started,” the Program of Economic Reforms states, adding that Regulation on European electronic toll collection, Danas reports.
