Transport Min. condemns decision of concessionaires to raise highway tolls

The unilateral decision of national highway concessionaires to raise tolls as of September while still negotiating with the government was condemned on Tuesday by Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras.

In a statement, the minister said that the government wants to find a realistic solution for 2023 that will not burden the public. "The state will exhaust all options it has to achieve the suspension of the companies' unilateral actions," he said.

According to the ministry statement, the concessionaires of "Aegean Motorway SA", "Olympia Odos SA", "Moreas SA" and "Nea Odos SA/Kentriki Odos SA" requested a meeting with the ministry leaders on July 3 through a letter. The minister and deputy minister met with the heads of the companies on July 18 and 24. But in a letter on July 28 the companies cited meetings with the office of the ministry's director general - in which the director was not present, the statement clarified - and without informing the minister of their intention "decided, exhibiting a lack of trustworthiness, to go ahead with a significant raise of tolls starting next month," the ministry statement said.

Aegean Motorway SA manages the national road from Raches (Fthiotida prefecture, central Greece) to Kleidi (Imathia prefecture, northern Greece). Olympia Odos connects the regions of the Peloponnese, western Greece, and Epirus, and includes the Athens-Patras (A8) motorway and the Patras-Pyrgos motorway (A5). Moreas SA manages the Corinth-Tripolis-Kalamata motorway and Lefktro-Sparti branch, while Nea Odos/Kentriki Odos SA manages the Ionia Odos project (Antirrio to Ioannina, or Egnatia Odos) and the Kentriki Odos motorway (E65).