The establishment of a road toll system in Belarus involves the completion of three further stages.

July 1, Minsk /Tatyana Ivanyuk - BELTA/. The creation of a national toll collection system for the Republic of Belarus's highways (BelToll) involves the completion of three more stages. This was announced today to journalists by Yevgeny Rokalo, Head of the Main Department of Highways of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Belarus, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

The investor of the project, with a total cost of 267 million euros, is the Austrian company Kapsch TrafficCom AG. "We have approached the completion of the first stage of its implementation with expenditures of 120 million euros," he noted, specifying that the project's commencement involves the construction of the system itself, including validation and data processing centers, office premises, as well as the road infrastructure necessary for toll collection.

According to the head of the Ministry of Transport department, the second stage, which the investor has already begun to implement, is scheduled until January 1, 2014, and entails the expansion of the system through the construction of roadside infrastructure on other sections of highways that will gradually become toll roads. This applies to the M-4 Minsk-Mogilev highway and the reconstructed sections of the M-5 Minsk-Gomel highway.

The third and fourth stages, similar to the second, involve the expansion of the toll road network. "Their implementation represents a longer-term prospect requiring the signing of additional agreements," emphasized the specialist.

He explained that the funds collected from toll road users will be accumulated by the owner of the electronic system, RUP "Belavtostrada," which will become a state enterprise. "From these funds, a certain percentage will be paid to the investor for the invested capital, for the construction and operation of the system. The remaining portion of the revenue will be transferred to the budget," added Yevgeny Rokalo. The investor (represented by its subsidiary company IOOO "Kapsch Telematic Services" - BELTA's note) will act as the operator of BelToll for the next 20 years and will maintain the system.

The head of the department also stated that after the completion of the first stage, the Belarusian side will reimburse the investor for their invested capital over a period of 3 years. "Subsequently, only interest payments for the system's operation will commence," he noted.

Since July 1, the electronic toll collection system for BelToll roads has been operating in a test mode, although its commercial operation was previously planned for this date. Tolls for travel on certain Belarusian highways using the electronic system will start to be charged from August 1.

The main advantage of the electronic system will be that the driver does not need to stop to make a payment. New technologies will allow drivers to move at the maximum permitted speed without changing lanes: payment will be debited automatically, for which the road will be equipped with appropriate portals fitted with laser sensors, video and photo cameras that will record vehicle passage. On-board electronic payment devices must be installed on vehicles (usually on the windshield). There are two types of such devices - for passenger cars and trucks, which differ in size.

A total of 815 km of the country's roads will become toll roads. At the first stage, this applies to the entire length of the M-1/E30 highway Brest (Kozlovichi) - Minsk - Russian border (Redki), as well as individual sections of the M-2 Minsk - Minsk National Airport, M-3 Minsk - Vitebsk, M-4 Minsk - Mogilev, M-5/E 271 Minsk - Gomel, and M-6/E 28 Minsk - Grodno - Polish border (Bruzgi) highways.

In accordance with Decree No. 426 of September 27, 2012, vehicles registered in the territory of the Customs Union countries with a technically permissible total mass not exceeding 3.5 tons are exempt from road tolls. Mopeds and motorcycles registered in Belarus, wheeled tractors and self-propelled machines, operational vehicles, as well as those used for defense and law and order purposes, will be able to travel for free. Drivers of minibuses for urban passenger transportation, vehicles used for providing medical assistance, emergency response, or transportation of humanitarian aid to the population of Belarus and other countries will not have to pay. -0-

News of Belarus (BELTA)