Next year, motorists will pay EUR 90 for a 365-day highway sticker. The cost of a single-day highway sticker will also rise to EUR 8.10.
Today, drivers pay EUR 60 for the 365-day highway sticker and EUR 5.40 for the single-day highway sticker.
“90 euros is the amount we deemed acceptable for motorists. Compared to neighbouring countries such as the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia, this remains the lowest 365-day sticker fee,” stated the Transport Ministry.
This adjustment is part of a consolidation measure that still requires parliamentary approval, where Robert Fico’s government holds a majority.
Conversely, the price of a 10-day sticker will decrease from EUR 12 to EUR 10.80, while a one-month sticker will cost EUR 17.10. This measure is expected to generate approximately EUR 35 million for the state budget.
However, Andrej Danko, leader of the far-right Slovak National Party and one of the current coalition leaders, previously campaigned for the abolition of highway vignettes before the early 2020 elections. He argued that people should not pay for highways that were not yet completed, making it a key theme of his campaign.
Danko even conducted a Facebook poll asking people whether they supported or opposed the abolition of highway vignettes. Of more than the 16,000 respondents, 15,000 were against the idea.
“Facebook has proven to be a waste of time,” Danko commented on the poll results.
He explained that people from America and Africa could vote, which skewed the results.
Today, Danko asserts that the state needs revenue from highway vignettes but still considers their existence “nonsense”, given that the highway network is incomplete.
In Slovakia, no new highway stretch was opened this year. In addition, there is still no highway connection between Bratislava and Kosice, the second largest city in the country.
At the time of Slovakia’s accession to the European Union in 2004, there were 322 kilometres of highways and 78 kilometres of dual carriageways in operation, Index writes. Today, there are 545 kilometres of highways and 320 kilometres of dual carriageways. Over the past two decades, Slovakia has thus added an average of only 23 kilometres of new highways each year. (The Slovak Spectator)