TIRANA, May 4 – Albanian producers have asked the government to delay the implementation of Albania’s first toll road system until next September when the peak tourist season ends and revise downward tolls for the business community in order not to negatively affect Albania-Kosovo trade exchanges and tourist flows.
Their request comes in a letter the Union of Albanian Producers has sent to the country’s infrastructure ministry as the Albanian concessionaire is working to repair the tolling system that was destroyed and burned down in a March 31 protest that turned violent as local Kukes residents, one of the country’s poorest, strongly opposed average tolls of €5.
Twenty-three local Kukes residents in northeastern were arrested following the protest. Four of them still remain in prison awaiting trial while the remaining have been released to house arrest.
The Union of Albanian Producers says it has also held meetings with Kosovo transport companies and supports a solution that would lead to the improvement of the business climate and the increase in the competitiveness of Albanian products.
Albanian infrastructure authorities have earlier said it could take at least 60 days, apparently until early June 2018, for the concessionaire to repair the destroyed tolling system.
Tolls ranging from €2.5 for motorcycles, to €5 for passenger cars, €11.2 for buses, and €16.2 and €22.5 for mid and high-tonnage trucks have been described as too high by the Albanian and Kosovo business communities, who fear trade exchanges between the two ethnic Albanian countries could receive a severe blow.
The government had initially described the fees as non-negotiable but withdrew following violent protests by local residents and is now considering offering €3 tolls for return trips to Kukes inhabitants.
Frequent road users such as transport companies are also expected to benefit discounts and offered season tickets.
While the tolling system will be in place by early next June, it remains unclear whether the Albanian concessionaire that will manage and maintain the so-called Highway of Nation for the next 30 years will start imposing tolls during summer when Kosovo tourists dominate the country’s foreign visitors in what is known as ‘patriotic tourism.’
Operational since 2009 on the Albanian side and from 2013 in Kosovo, the Highway of Nation linking the two countries has given a strong impetus to trade and human exchanges in the past decade.
Albania-Kosovo trade exchanges dominated by Albanian exports rose by 31 percent to hit a historic high of 29.4 billion lek (€220 million) in 2017 after fluctuating at about the same level of about €160 million in the past five years, according to Albania’s INSTAT statistical institute.
Meanwhile, the number of Kosovo tourists to Albania dropped by about 20 percent to 1.75 million in 2017 following a consecutive hikes in a decade, apparently negatively affected by constantly rising prices in Albania’s main summer destinations.
The three requests by the Union of Albanian Producers to the infrastructure ministry
- Postpone the implementation of the tolling system until September 1 2018
- Review tolls on trucks based on daily return tickets of €16, valid for 24 hours.
- Be part of the ongoing negotiating tables on the issue of tolls applied by the concessionaire for the Milot-Morine segment until a consensual deal for both parties is reached.
