Drivers to pay Euro 5 tolls for Durres-Kukes highway

TIRANA, June 12 – Drivers using the Durres-Kukes highway will pay a minimum of 5 euros after a concessionaire is selected next autumn, making it Albania’s first toll road. The announcement came on Tuesday after Transport Minister Sokol Olldashi signed a deal with his Kosovo counterpart Fehmi Mujota on the mutual recognition of driving licences just as the tourist season has kicked off.
“A crucial criterion in the second stage of the tender will be highway toll. The lower the toll, the more advantaged the bidder will be. We will see what the bids are but I believe they will be in the limit of 5 Euros,” said Olldashi.
The Kosovo Transport Minister announced Kosovo would complete its 60 kilometres of the Highway of Nation from Vermice in the Albanian-Kosovo border to Prishtina next November.
Officials say the tender to select the winner will be held next October and the toll system start being applied from January 2013, making it Albania’s first toll road.
Earlier this year, five international companies, three of which joint-ventures, submitted bids to upgrade, operate and maintain the new Durres-Kukes highway linking Albania to Kosovo in what would become Albania’s first toll road. Partly operational since June 2009, the Durres-Kukes highway and its 5.5 km twin-bore Thirre tunnel is estimated to cost government around 4 million euros annually.
The concession covers a 118 km segment from Milot to Morine, the major part of the Durres-Kukes nicknamed the ‘Highway of Nation’ including the 5.5 km Rreshen- Kalimash tunnel.
The Durres-Kukes motorway became fully open to traffic only in October 2010. Its major 60 km Rreshen-Kalimash segment was built by Bechtel-Enka, a US-Turkish consortium.