March 24 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria intends to increase road toll charges for heavy vehicles by 50%, caretaker regional development minister Ivan Shishkov said.
Bulgaria could collect some 600 million levs ($330.7 million/306.8 million euro) per year if the price increase is implemented and potential discounts for hauliers are factored in, Shishkov said in a statement on Thursday.
It is envisaged that the toll charge will be determined by the distance in kilometres travelled by the hauliers. There would be a reduction in charges for distances above a certain mileage - around 4,000 to 5,000 km per month.
Heavy road traffic across Bulgaria increased by over 35% in 2022, Shishkov said. Bulgaria collected 271 million levs in toll tax revenue last year, he added.
As much as 581 million levs were collected in total from vignettes and toll tax last year on Bulgaria's 20,000 km toll road network, according to information published by the Road Infrastructure Agency earlier this year.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)