It has been reported that transport minister Jan Figel plans to reduce the number of tolled sections on Slovak roads, thus impacting revenues of the national toll company Skytoll. This is also good news for road users given the current high fuel costs faced by all concerned.
Skytoll received from the state about 0.03€ per sector travelled per vehicle. The company earned approx €2 million over a six month period last year. The number of sections will be reduced by linking adjoining sectors, therefore reducing the amount paid to Skytoll.
This should provide a substantial saving to the state. Hauliers who are bearing the brunt of rising fuel charges will benefit from this, as drivers will travel through far less tolled sections.
However, hauliers and motorists alike could be in for more gloom in the days ahead as the price of oil continues to climb on international markets with the conflict in North Africa and nervous speculators pumping pressure on commodity prices.
The price of the benchmark Brent crude finished last week at just over $125 a barrel. This is the highest levels since August 2008, but still far less than the peak of almost $150 a barrel from July of the same year.
Many analysts predict there will be another upward surge this week and that this will inevitably put pressure on prices at the pump.
Mean while, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and finance ministry officials meet with hauliers to map out their plans to keep rising fuel prices in check. Hauliers expect fuel prices to drop by some ten euro cents per litre after their meetings last Tuesday.