October the 9th, 2026 – More issues have arisen for the ambitious future Croatian toll collection system due to come into function in March 2027.
Croatian Motorways (HAC) has now cancelled the public procurement procedure for the development of a sales web portal, a mobile application for end users and an integration data bus as part of the new Crolibertas toll collection system. Vedran Salvia reports for Index that this raises the question of whether the new system can indeed start operating on 1 March 2027, as prescribed by the Toll Collection Act.
how will crolibertas work?
The new Crolibertas toll collection system should completely change the way motorway tolls are paid in Croatia. Instead of stopping at toll booths, vehicles will pass without stopping, and collection will be carried out via ENC devices or automatic reading of registration plates. A total of 212 portals with cameras and antennas are being installed on the motorways, along with new IT infrastructure and data processing centres. The main contract for the implementation of the system, worth almost 80 million euros excluding VAT, was signed by HAC with the consortium of SkyToll and TollNet. According to the government’s decision, of the total 160.5 million euros, 115.6 million euros of eligible costs will be financed by non-repayable funds from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, while 44.9 million euros of ineligible costs will be borne by Croatian Motorways.
what procurement issues have arisen?
After the cancellation of the procurement procedure, the question now arises whether it will be possible to implement it on time at all. In May, HAC initially selected the consortium of Bos Projekt, Infinum and the British AMR CyberSecurity, whose bid amounted to 329,500 euros excluding VAT. The estimated value of the procurement was 330 thousand euros. The State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures cancelled the initial selection decision following an appeal by the Zagreb company Abysalto, whose bid amounted to 379,000 euros excluding VAT, and returned the matter to HAC for a new decision.
hac has now also rejected the bid it initially chose
HAC rejected this bid because it was higher than the estimated value of the procurement, while it also rejected the bid it had initially selected. The minutes state that this consortium did not meet the conditions for key experts. For two mobile app development engineers, diplomas from the Faculty of Organisation and Informatics in Varaždin were submitted, and for one database engineer a diploma from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb. The tender, however, required diplomas in the field of technical sciences. The consortium of bidders, according to the minutes, did not satisfy the condition relating to the quality standard. The submitted ISO 9001:2015 certificate relates to cybersecurity and assurance services, and it is not evident from it that it covers software production and the integration of information and communication solutions.
The third bid, from the Zagreb craft H&D Info i trgovina, amounted to 410,000 euros excluding VAT. It was rejected because the bidder did not meet the conditions for key experts, and the price was higher than the planned funds.
deadlines are now the big issue
In the cancelled procedure, HAC envisaged six months for the realisation of the work. It should be said that the cancellation decision is not yet final because the appeal deadline is ongoing, and any new procedure could follow only after the completion of that part of the procedure. Less than five months remain until the legally prescribed start of Crolibertas operations, which is a potential problem. HAC has previously emphasised that this is an implementation-complex and multidisciplinary project that requires the coordination of technological, legal and operational segments. Precisely for this reason it is clear that after this additional complication time is increasingly running out, and there is less and less room for new delays.
Jutarnji reported back at the beginning of September, citing a source, that the procurement had been incorrectly set up from the beginning. According to the claims, the development of the application was initially included in the tender for the selection of the contractor for the new toll collection system, but was subsequently, for unknown reasons, separated and a separate procurement procedure was decided upon for it. It is also stated that DKOM accepted the appeal because HAC did not adhere to the conditions it itself prescribed. In the event of the cancellation of the tender, HAC can contract this service by direct agreement with a contractor who will carry out the work for a lower amount than the estimated value in the tender and guarantee that everything will be completed by January next year.
hac: the project is proceeding according to plan
We contacted HAC and asked them whether the new toll collection system can still start operating on the 1st of March 2027, when they plan to launch a new procurement procedure, and whether that date will remain final or whether there is a possibility of it being postponed. We also asked them whether the web portal, mobile application and integration data bus are necessary for putting Crolibertas into operation. “In accordance with the Public Procurement Act, the decision on the cancellation of the procedure has not yet become final and the deadline for lodging an appeal is ongoing. Therefore, at this moment HAC cannot comment on possible further steps or models for the realisation of the subject functionalities.
The project of the new electronic toll collection system is being carried out according to plan, and HAC is undertaking all necessary activities so that the system is established within the deadline established by the Toll Collection Act. The public will be timely informed about all future decisions and activities,” Croatian Motorways explained. The question also arises at what stage the remaining parts of the infrastructure are, how many systems are already interconnected and how much time will be needed for final testing before commissioning.
According to the latest information published in the media, of the total of 212 planned portals, 111 have been installed. But the portals are only one part of the infrastructure. HAC officially states that the project also includes cameras, antennas, advanced IT equipment, construction works and back-office centres for data processing, and after the installation of all portals and related equipment a comprehensive system test will follow at the level of the entire network.
the deadline has already been postponed once before
It should also be noted that the deadline for the introduction of the system has already been postponed once. When the main contract with SkyToll and TollNet was signed in September 2024, HAC stated a works completion deadline of 24 months, i.e. until September 2026, and the Government at that time announced that the new system would be in function after the summer of 2026. The Act later set the start of full application for the 1st of March 2027, which is now once again under a very large question mark.
