Two state-owned motorway companies had revenues of two billion kunas.
From January to the end of September, more than 45 million vehicles have used motorways in Croatia, and the two state-owned companies, Croatian Motorways (HAC) and Rijeka-Zagreb Motorway (ARZ), had toll revenues of two billion kuna, which is more than ever before, reports Novi List on October 30, 2017.
The turnover was 5.5 percent higher on average, while revenues grew by almost 14 percent, which is a consequence of the decision to introduce seasonal toll prices, which were 10 percent higher in the period from 1 July to 30 September. It can be predicted that, by the end of the year, the toll revenues on motorways operated by HAC and ARZ will reach approximately 2.5 billion kuna (2.17 billion kunas last year). So far this year, the motorways earned 260 million kuna more than last year.
It is clear that seasonal price hikes did not significantly affect traffic in summer months. Two motorways had more than 10 million vehicles in the first nine months, Bregana-Zagreb-Lipovac (12.77 million) and Zagreb-Rijeka (11.33 million). The Bosiljevo-Split-Ploče motorway is close with 9.35 million vehicles.
June was the best month relative to last year, with traffic growth of as much as 15.6 percent.
The highest earners in the first nine months of the year were the Bregana-Zagreb-Lipovac motorway with 667 million kuna, Bosiljevo-Split-Ploče motorway with 624 million kuna, and the Zagreb-Rijeka motorway with 440 million kuna. These three motorways together accounted for about 87 percent of revenues on all motorway sections in Croatia, not including concessionaires who operate motorways in Istria and the Zagreb-Macelj motorway.
The Krk Bridge recorded about 1.8 million vehicles, which is approximately 5.6 percent more than last year. Interestingly, in June the traffic there increased by as much as 22 percent, while in September it was down by 7.5 percent compared to the last year, suggesting a somewhat earlier end of the high tourist season. The record month for the Krk Bridge was July when there were 348,291 vehicles, while just 80,786 vehicles used it in January. In the first nine months, the toll revenues of the Krk Bridge stood at about 54 million kuna or 10 percent more than last year.
Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, said that the process of financial and operational restructuring of the entire road sector was underway since the government had abandoned the idea to monetise and sell the motorways. The critical goal is to solve the debt of the entire sector which amounts to five billion euros, which also includes the obligations of the Croatian Roads public company.
“The government is committed to price adjustment and a seasonal increase of 10 percent in toll prices for the first category of vehicles. The estimate was that the revenues would increase by 160 million kuna, but the actual revenue increase was about 260 million kuna. This is a consequence of an increase in traffic on motorways, not just cars, but also freight traffic and truck traffic, which is steadily growing, which is also an indicator of more intense economic activities. The goal is to achieve substantive savings through financial restructuring and refinancing of obligations of companies from the road sector. By the end of November, we will launch bonds to refinance part of our loan obligations, and by the end of January we plan to complete negotiations with Croatian banks on credit restructuring,” said Butković.
Translated from Novi List.
