This mechanism is envisaged as part of the Road Fund reform, which is scheduled to be completed by 2028. This will result in two separate levies: a vehicle ownership fee to be used to finance local roads for mayoralties, and a national highway user fee.
“The level of funding to date is very low. Right now, road user fees are the main source of payment for work at the local government level – that is, for town halls. We have a plan to introduce a new mechanism by 2028, which will see the introduction of two separate levies. A vehicle ownership levy – the current road use levy, which will be paid directly to the City Hall and used for local streets and roads. And a tax on the use of national road infrastructure, as implemented in many European countries. This tax will be calculated either by the time of use of the infrastructure or by the distance traveled,” explained Nikolai Myndra, State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development.
According to him, the introduction of these two charges is more favorable for citizens, as it will take into account whether they use national or only local roads. Currently, the tax is paid annually for the entire public road network, regardless of whether it is used or not.
“For example, a resident of Chisinau who does not travel on national highways pays the same amount as a person who travels hundreds of kilometers. The new mechanism will eliminate this injustice. Control over the use of national highways will be done very simply – with the help of video cameras installed on the roads,” Myndra said on the air of a public radio broadcaster.
According to the official, the system is relatively inexpensive and its profitability level exceeds 35%, which implies a payback period of up to 7 years.
It should be noted that the current mechanism for the formation of the Road Fund was approved back in 1996 and has not been changed so far. And since 2014, the amount of road user fees has not changed
“If you take a simple calculation – the tax that the car owner pays today does not even cover the cost of asphalt on the area that the car occupies in the parking lot,” – said the Secretary of State.
According to him, the domestic companies are capable of spending about 6 billion lei per year on the maintenance and rehabilitation of the road infrastructure, and the volume of the Road Fund should be brought up to the level corresponding to this capacity.
