Two MPs from the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) have initiated a draft bill aimed at removing the bridge tolls for Fetesti - Cernavoda and Giurgeni - Vadu Oii.

Both bridges cross the Danube River. The Fetesti – Cernavoda bridge is located on the A2 Sun Highway, which connects Bucharest to the seaside resorts. This highway gets extremely crowded during summer months.

The initiators of the bill, namely Bogdan Hutuca and Robert Boroianu, say that paying these bridge tolls in addition to the vignette, which the drivers pay to use the roads and highways in Romania, represents double taxation.

“In the countries crossed by the Danube (Serbia, Hungary, Austria), there are no similar charges for crossing the Danube bridges,” the two MPs said.

Moreover, they say that the money collected from the Fetesti - Cernavoda and Giurgeni - Vadu Oii bridge tolls go to the state budget but the bridges are in an advanced stage of degradation.

“Moreover, this tax is profoundly discriminatory, especially for the inhabitants of Dobrogea. This tax is paid, to a great extent, by those who have to transit these road sections. Both individuals and companies residing/based in the counties of Constanta, Tulcea and Ialomita are obliged to pay this toll whenever they have health problems or have to solve administrative problems either in the capital, or in another city of the country. This strongly affects the economic agents that distribute goods across the country,” the two MPs also said.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com