The toll system for highways, which calculates the fee for their use, could cost around 7 billion UAH, stated Deputy Finance Minister Alexander Kava in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"The topic of toll roads in Ukraine has been discussed for over 20 years, and it consistently generates significant public response, similar to the restoration of civil aviation flights. Regarding toll roads, it's important to clearly differentiate between two components that are often confused. The first is toll concession roads, which are built at the investor's expense, and the investor then charges a fee for passage over a certain period to recoup their construction investment. The second case, which has been implemented in most European countries for a long time, is the toll for freight transport on highways, known as tolling. This requires the development of a special payment and control system, which is not inexpensive. Even before the war, calculations were made for the cost of such a system for major state roads, which was around 7 billion UAH," Kava explained.
According to him, the fee is charged based on the distance traveled by the truck. This parameter needs to be recorded by the system.
"It is necessary to create a system that will determine when a vehicle enters the road, fully 'track' its passage, and then calculate the price based on how far the vehicle has traveled and how much it should pay for the passage," Kava stated.
The deputy minister noted that there are various technological solutions available. The simplest one is vignettes (a special document or sticker confirming payment for using certain roads - IF-U). These are mainly used in smaller countries that can be traversed with a full tank without refueling. Vignettes are used, in particular, by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania.
"In Ukraine, considering the size of the country, as in Poland, introducing vignettes makes no sense," Kava believes.
An alternative method for developing the toll collection system is the use of GPS devices or magnetic frames with RFID tags.