The wealthy will master the road – Newspaper Kommersant No. 33 (7478) of 02/22/2023

The Government of the Russian Federation, by its decree, allowed Avtodor to set new tariffs for travel on toll roads. So, for owners of passenger cars, prices can be increased from the current 3 rubles. up to 5–8 rubles. for 1 km of the way. Officials explained the revision of the price list by the rise in the cost of the road construction process – the old tariffs are no longer able to compensate for the state’s costs. It is not known when the new prices will be applied in practice. Avtodor last week already increased tariffs as part of the “annual indexation”.

On Tuesday, pravo.gov.ru published government decreeestablishing new marginal fares for travel on toll roads or on toll sections of highways.

The changes relate primarily to roads built with state participation.

On highways where toll travel was introduced after reconstruction (for example, M-1 “Belarus”, M-4 “Don”, M-3 “Ukraine”), the maximum fare is increased from 3 rubles. up to 5 rubles per 1 km for cars. If the road is built from scratch (as, for example, the Central Ring Road or M-12 “Vostok”), the marginal price rises from 3 rubles. up to 8 rubles per 1 km for passenger cars. In the event that we are talking about a toll bridge or overpass, the tariff increases from 21 rubles. up to 29 rubles for 1 km.

Marginal prices are also rising on routes built with the involvement of private investment under concession agreements, from 12 rubles. up to 16.5 rubles. for 1 km, but we are talking only about future projects.

The current paid section of M-11 15–58th km and the northern bypass of Odintsovo will not be affected by the document. “Agreements previously determined during the tender procedures and approved by the government cannot be revised without reason,” Avtodor explained earlier. The new tariffs also do not apply to the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter in St. Petersburg, toll sections in the Pskov region, the toll bridge across the Kama and Bui rivers in Udmurtia, and other regional roads.

The document comes into force ten days after publication, but it is not known when it will be put into practice. It should be noted that last Friday the Avtodor State Corporation announced the annual indexation of tariffs, which will take effect from February 22. But this increase is not connected with the issued document. In accordance with the announced indexation, travel along the entire M-4 Don from Moscow to Krasnodar has risen in price for a passenger car from 2.4–3 thousand rubles. up to 2.8–3.5 thousand rubles. (depending on the day of the week), for the Moscow region section of M-1 “Belarus” – from 100-120 rubles. up to 140 rubles (now here the price does not depend on the day of the week), along the M-12 section from the Central Ring Road to Orekhovo-Zuevo – from 89 rubles. up to 99 rubles

The published resolution has been developed by the Ministry of Transport since October 2021.

The revision of the tariff policy was necessary for the authorities due to the increase in the cost of construction.

The price list, we recall, is valid from 2016. The cost of construction of the M-12 highway, meanwhile, has risen in price from 622.8 billion to 911.6 billion rubles. At the same time, the authorities plan to bring it to Yekaterinburg, Tyumen and Vladivostok, President Vladimir Putin announced this on Tuesday during his annual address to the Federal Assembly. The repair of the roadbed and infrastructure, financed, among other things, by collecting fees, has also risen in price, the Ministry of Transport explained. After criticism from the Ministry of Economy in early 2022, the document was finalized: the indexation of marginal tariffs decreased from 66-70% to 50%, but only for trucks.

An increase in marginal tariffs is necessary for the construction of roads “in conditions of limited funding,” Konstantin Makiyev, deputy chairman of the board of Avtodor, explained in October 2022. He also noted that the document gives the state company the right to raise tariffs, but does not oblige to introduce new prices “everywhere.”

Ivan Buranov