After several attempts by Dars to raise the price of vignettes, they finally succeeded. The government of Robert Golob approved the proposal and increased the price of vignettes by just under seven percent. The annual vignette for passenger vehicles will now cost 117 and a half euros, the monthly vignette 32 euros, and the weekly vignette 16 euros. For motorbikes, the price of an annual vignette will be 58.70 euros, a half-yearly vignette 32 euros, and a weekly vignette 8 euros. The more expensive vignettes will be on sale from June 15.
Although last year Dars had a profit of 135 million euros, this year he proposed a price increase. President of the board of Darsa Valentin Hajdinjakwho was a guest on the show 24 HOURS IN THE EVENING, said that the increase was proposed for three reasons.
“First, that we will continue to drive on regularly maintained, renovated and newly built roads. Second, that Dars will continue to be a long-term financially stable company, and third, that we will finance the large investment cycle that lies ahead of us.” he said. He added that by 2030, Dars is planning an investment of 3.2 billion euros; only for the development axis in the northern and southern parts is around 1.4 billion euros. “These are calculations before the price increases we have witnessed in the last two years.”
As he explained, they could also propose a higher price for the vignette, since inflation has been as much as 22.3% since the last increase, but they still proposed a 6.8% increase, which is also agreed with the government. “I would like to have it like in Austria, where the vignette is automatically adjusted to inflation.”
As he pointed out, it is about the quality of the highways and carriageways themselves. According to him, Dars renews an average of 55 kilometers of highways and expressways per year. “Of course, Slovenians are like that – we want to drive on new highways, but Dars should not rebuild them while we are on the road.” He explained that the volume of traffic is increasing daily and the necessary thing that goes along with it is that the renovations also cause congestion.
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Dars proposes increasing the price of vignettes to 117 euros. The reason: inflation
Currently, seven major construction sites are open along the entire highway intersection, and five should be completed by the summer. The only exceptions are the northern Ljubljana ring road and the renovation of the Podmežakla viaduct, where more demanding interventions are involved.
What about the third highway lane? Hajdinjak replies that if it were up to Dars, they would already be building it. “We are obtaining environmental protection consent, once it is obtained, we will go to tender for the selection of a contractor. But not everything is in the hands of Dars.”
