Thursday, March 31, 2011

Reduction in road tolls a possibility, minister says

Deputy Transport Minister Yiannis Magriotis on Thursday said there might be an agreement with concessionaires to reduce road tolls even before Easter. 
 
"I believe that we could have made the announcements today, if the banks wanted it. Next week we will make our proposals public in their entirety. I continue to believe that next week there may be an agreement," Magriotis said. 
 
According to the minister, the state had solved most of the problems raised, speeded up the rate of land expropriations for the highways under construction, resolved issues with state and EU funding and established measures concerning the obligation to pay road tolls. 
 
"In our talks with representatives of the banks and concessionaires we have submitted specific proposals for reducing tolls and the solution of technical problems," Magriotis said. He added that work on the roads had stopped because banks had cut off funding for the projects, which was not the responsibility of the state sector.




ANA