ZAGREB, September 18, 2018 – Croatia’s motorway operators – HAC and ARZ – have collected 2.2 billion kuna in road tolls year-to-date, which is 6% more compared to the corresponding period in 2017, and by the end of the year a total of 2.8 billion kuna is expected to be collected from tolls, HAC informed on Tuesday.
HAC said that 40.6 million vehicles used Croatia’s motorways in the said period, which is 4.6% more on the year. In the three summer months – June to August – 21.1 million vehicles were registered bringing in 1.15 billion kuna without VAT.
HAC will invest 548.3 million kuna this year, 228.7 kuna of which will be allocated to new investments while 319.6 million kuna will go for road maintenance, HAC said.
HAC recalled that the first phase of its financial restructuring was completed in December last year and the second phase was completed in April this year. The government did an excellent job as the total savings in the road sector amounted to 50 million euro just on annual interest dues and a saving of 26 million euro for HAC itself.
The company plans to continue downsizing the number of employees from the current 2,728 to 2,250 by 2021.
As far as a new system of road tolls is concerned, HAC expects recommendations from the Spanish ISOM consultants who were commissioned with this task in July this year. More information about this matter is to be known at the end of the year or early next year.