NDS should already be calling a tender for a new operator of the highway toll system
Experience from the Czech Republic shows that the highway company NDS should already be calling a tender for a new operator of the highway toll system. The Czech tender lasted for almost five years and was won by SkyToll (Petr Syrovátko). It also runs the system in Slovakia, until 2022, as it won a dubious tender during the first Robert Fico government. Compared to the contract with SkyToll, the state’s toll revenues are less than half as high while costs are twice as high. It is SkyToll that is making all the money, while the state would be better off if it had stuck to the previous system of paper stickers. NDS, which lacks funding for new highways, is yet to start preparations for a new toll tender. Its management will be replaced after the 2020 general election and the new management will most likely have to extend SkyToll’s contract. In Czechia, the new tender cut the cost of operating the system by half.
