The toll on the road Meljine - Petijevići should cost one euro for the residents of Herceg Novi and Trebinje.
This was said by the vice-president of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, Miloš Konjević, explaining that he had discussed this with the representatives of Trebinje and that they still need to find a model for how to achieve this with the road concessionaire "Univerzal Monte".
The President of the Municipality, Stevan Katic, recently said that they are willing for the Municipality of Herceg Novi to buy out the existing contract, that is, for the state, instead of building a new border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, to adapt the existing facilities at the toll plaza for these needs.
The section of the Herceg Novi-Trebinje road, from Meljin to Petijević, with a length of 12,5 kilometers, was built in the middle of 2008.
The road, which until then had a local character, gained international importance and the standard of a highway, but this was not officially verified by the Ministry of Transport.
That is why many considered toll collection illegal.
The road was built as a public-private partnership between the Municipality of Herceg Novi and the Belgrade company "Univerzal Holding" owned by Serbian businessman Vuk Hamović, i.e. the company "Univerzal Monte" from Herceg Novi.
The investment cost 20 million euros, but the local opposition at the time, as well as part of the professional public, assessed that the arrangement was extremely unfavorable for the municipality.
The road was given to the investor for 20 years, after which it becomes the property of the Municipality.
The local administration provided 107.000 square meters of land.
According to estimates, the concessionaire has earned more than 10 million euros from toll collection, because since 2008, more than 1,7 million vehicles have crossed the border between the two countries.
The toll price is from 3 to 18 euros, depending on the vehicle category.
The concessionaire was still willing to sell the investment. Two years ago, a representative of the then local government said that an "agreement with Vuk Hamović" had been reached.
Allegedly, Hamović asked for five million euros, but the Municipality did not have the money.
According to the knowledge of "Vijesti", there were no talks after the change of government in June of this year.
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