Despite initial plans, there will be no increase in prices.
Upon the initiative of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, the board of directors of the Agency for Coastal Maritime Transport decided to abolish the 2018 price list for the inhabitants of Croatian islands, according to which prices which islanders pay for ferries would increase dramatically, announced the Ministry, reports Večernji List on December 30, 2017.
The Ministry said that the new price list would be defined after the adoption of the Law on Islands, which is expected during 2018, and together with the corresponding amendments to the Law on Regular and Occasional Coastal Transport, which will also cover the issue of prices for islanders.
As emphasised in the statement, part of the decision on reducing the prices on the off-season and high-season services on the state lines remains in force. This means that, for example, the price for car transportation in off-season and high-season on the ferry line Split – Vela Luka – Lastovo would be lower by up to 160 kuna, on the ferry line Vis – Split by 45 kuna, on the Zadar – Mali Lošinj line up to 37 kuna, on the Stari Grad – Split line by up to 30 kuna, etc.
The day before, the Agency for Coastal Maritime Transport announced that it had published a price list for the national lines for 2018. The Agency stated that, “starting from 1 January 2018, the price lists in use will be a result of the harmonisation of ticket prices with the new provisions of the Law on Regular and Occasional Coastal Transport adopted in 2016, which states that the discount for islanders cannot be higher than 50 percent of the regular high-season price.”
This has triggered a series of reactions from islanders and island associations since the most significant changes were anticipated in ferry transportation, where prices on some lines would rise by as much as 20 percent.
Therefore, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure immediately announced that it would demand that the harmonisation announced by the Agency should be delayed until the adoption of the new Law on Islands, which is currently being drafted.
Translated from Večernji List.
