A change in the scope of the toll system will be proposed

Over BGN 186 million in toll revenues from the beginning of the year till 26 May

The three-month period agreed with the carriers for the analysis of toll revenue cannot be updated because of the crisis.  An analysis of the scope of the system has been done and a change will be proposed to include more road sections as there are currently areas where there are no road sections in the toll scope.

This was commented today by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Petya Avramova before the members of the Committee on Regional Policy, Public Works and Local Self-Government.

The minister noted that according to data from transport industry representatives, from March 13 to May 26, shipments were reduced by 70%.  From 1 March, when toll taxis for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes came into force, up to and including 26 May, route cards worth BGN 16 461 830 were bought. Of these, 75% have been sold through the RIA's channels - 500 self-charging terminals located along the national road network and at the main petrol stations, the bgtoll.bg,  website, the mobile app and the ticket offices at the regional road offices across the country and at the main border crossing points.  The number of toll declarations processed by the electronic system (with on-board devices and GPS trackers) during the same period was 40 million, worth over BGN 9 million.  Thus, toll tax revenues totalled nearly BGN 26 million.

From 13 March to 26 May, inclusive, the number of vignettes sold for passenger cars was 593,999, worth BGN 36,381,353.  Their revenue in April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 has halved.  In April 2020, 181,580 vignettes were sold for BGN 11,519,479 and in 2019 - 459,831 vignettes for BGN 22,412,817.

From the beginning of the year until 26 May, including, the revenues from tolls - vignettes and tolls amounted to BGN186 202 712.

From the beginning of 2020 up to and including 26 May 2020, the number of electronic vignettes sold was over 2.5 million worth BGN 160 million.

When asked about the extension of the validity period of the vignettes, prof.  Oleg Asenov - member of the Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency, noted that they are paid for time, not for distance traveled and in European practice there is no compensation mechanism in place.  He added that during the state of emergency there was a change in the vignette sales model - users preferred those with a shorter term, and after its abolition the sale of long-term vignettes increased.

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Road Infrastructure Agency, the Directorate for National Construction Supervision and the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency worked at full speed for the entire period of the crisis, Minister Avramova said.  She added that none of the ministry's structures had stopped working in compliance with all measures, in the full knowledge that the construction sector is one of the engines of economic growth.

Since the beginning of the crisis only the RIA has paid about BGN 170 million, the minister reported. The agency administers a large volume of projects with a total length of about 350 km, she reminded.

Petya Avramova announced that a building permit for section 3 of Hemus Motorway - from the road junction  "Kalenik” to the junction to Pleven.  The section between the Buhovtsi and Belokopitovo junctions is expected to be completed ahead of schedule.  Work is underway on both sections of the Europe Motorway, and the route from Dragoman to Slivnitsa may be completed ahead of schedule, she added.

116 public tenders for about BGN 850 million excluding VAT for construction or reconstruction of water supply and sewerage facilities have been announced by water supply and sewerage operators.  A total of about 190 procedures for about 400 sites are expected to be announced.  The funding for these is from the Operational Programme "Environment 2014-2020".

The projects with a total value of about BGN 1.8 billion including VAT were defined by the regional pre-investment studies developed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works for the districts of Vratsa, Ruse, Pernik, Vidin, Silistra, Plovdiv, Yambol, Varna, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Kardzhali, Shumen, Dobrich and Burgas.  Such a pilot was prepared for Smolyan district.  They will be implemented during the current programming period, and the one for Smolyan is already under implementation.

A public tender for the development of regional pre-investment projects for 6 newly consolidated water and sewerage operators - Haskovo, Targovishte, Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Sofia region and Pleven is to be announced. Financing of the completed RPIPs will be available for application in the next period.

The servicing of one administrative district by one water and sewerage operator is among the principles that are set out in the draft of the new Water and Sewerage Act.  It is expected to be published for public consultation next week, the regional minister also informed.  It also envisages reducing the regulatory burden, revising the quality indicators, maintaining the social tolerance of the price of water and sewerage services but changing their structure, as well as providing targeted funding for the sector through the state budget so as not to dramatically increase prices and not to exceed the social tolerance threshold.