“The costs of maintaining roads are paid by Hungarian taxpayers, while the number of foreign vehicles using the roads is increasing. It is time the [owners of] these vehicles start contributing to the expenses,” Finance Ministry Spokesman Ferenc Pichler said.
The Finance Ministry expects several tens of billions of forints in state revenues from the road tolls. Most likely, drivers will have to pay the road toll when entering the country, but other details have not been clarified yet.
Officials of the Economy and Transport Ministry said they do not know details either and added that talks between ministries will start this week.
Executives of tourism services firms can be expected to oppose the new road tolls.
“[Road tolls] could be seen as an unfriendly move by a country that considers tourism as a strategic sector,” said Ákos Niklai, president of the Hungarian Hotel Association.