Experts criticize that the government puts its hand into people’s pockets instead of allocating all the money that drivers pay through fuel excise to repair the roads.
More about this in TV3 news.
Even the company responsible for roads admits that 4 out of 10 roads in Lithuania are in bad or very bad condition. Although there is a lack of money to repair old roads, the Ministry of Transport plans to build new ones with the money of entrepreneurs.
“By the end of the year, we will evaluate the possibilities of preparing the Kaunas, Klaipėda, Zarasu bypass investment project and the implementation of the 130 Kaunas-Prienai road,” says Via Lietuva CEO Marius Švaikauskas.
The ministry plans to allow businessmen to build the almost 7-kilometer southern bypass of Klaipėda for their own money. The Zarasai bypass would be about 9 kilometers long, and the Kaunas western bypass would be about 16 kilometers long.
The Minister of Transport and some politicians in the Seimas propose that all drivers driving on the road, built by businessmen or the company “Via Lietuva” belonging to the Ministry of Transport, should pay for it – the road should be tolled, as in some foreign countries.
“Tolled roads should be those for which there is an alternative, as an example I can give you the Via Balticos road that passes through Kėdainii, there is another road to Kėdainii, now it has been reconstructed, which can also be used to reach Kėdainii perfectly, if you don’t want to drive on the toll road”, says Kazys Starkevičius, Chairman of the Seimas Economic Committee.
Lists possible prices
For example, in neighboring Poland, driving a motorcycle for 255 km on the Konin-Swiecko highway costs 14 euros, and a passenger car costs 24 euros. Kilometers are chargedis Polish roads by car can cost from 5 to 13 cents, depending on the autostrada.
How much would have to be paid for each kilometer traveled on a new road in Lithuania, the ministry has not yet calculated, and Starkevičius has his own version.
“100 kilometers can cost up to three euros,” says K. Starkevičius.
Residents and businesses paid 904 million in fuel excise alone last year. euros, and last year – 722 million. euros. Every year, the business pays almost 60 million euros for vignettes, which are required for certain buses and heavy machinery to travel on toll roads.
“If they were all dedicated to road maintenance, we would drive on glass-smooth roads, they would be ice-free in winter, snow-free, and pothole-free in summer,” says Sigitas Žilius, general secretary of the transporters’ union.
If you think that the excise taxes you pay when buying fuel go to maintain the roads – you are wrong.
“Through the excise duty, not a single euro goes to road repairs,” says M. Švaikauskas.
Now, although we paid about one billion last year through road taxes, the government allocated about half a billion for roads from the Road Maintenance and Development Program last year, and added about another 60 million from European funds. This year, the government allocated 882 million for roads.
Some professionals do not understand the benefit of toll roads if they do not create any benefit for drivers, only a source of profit for business.
“We don’t have physical places where by building a road we would create added value for the user,” says Šarūnas Frolenko, head of the association “Lietuvos keliai”.
According to specialists, there are countless roads on which the authorities still do not know why they did not charge vignettes.
“A simple example, heavy transport from Vilnius, going to Ignalina can go through Molėti and then pay, but it can go through Pabradė and not pay,” says Š. Frolenko.
TV3 did not receive the Ministry of Transport’s answers to the experts’ criticism – the minister has left, and there is no one else in the entire ministry who can comment.
Learn more about it in the video at the beginning of the article.
