The Thumana - Kashar highway, which opened to traffic this month, will be one of the four most expensive highways in Europe applying tolls, while compared to purchasing power, it is the most expensive in Europe.

Local news provider Monitor has processed the data for 59 toll roads across Europe with data obtained from the toll portal by country https://www.tolls.eu/european-countries. These data were verified with the official rates of each of the states.

In the comparison, only toll highways are included, some of which also have tunnels (excluding tolls for rare engineering works such as the English Channel, tunnels and bridges in Belgium and the Netherlands, etc., as they are not comparable to the Thuman–Kashar road).

The Thumana - Kashar highway in Albania has a length of 21 kilometers, with a toll of Euro 2.53, value-added tax (VAT) included, or 0.12 euros per kilometer. With this price per kilometer Thumana - Kashar is the fourth most expensive among the 59 toll highways in Europe.

The Cannock - Kingsbury highway in Great Britain ranks first with 0.2 euros per kilometer. The segment is 35 kilometers long and costs Euro 8.2 (7 pounds).

The second most expensive highway in Europe is Navan North - Kells in Ireland with 0.136 euros per kilometer. The axis is 11 kilometers long and costs 1.5 euros.

The third most expensive segment is also in Ireland Springhill - Slieverue at 0.125 euros per kilometer. This highway is 16 kilometers long and costs 2 euros.

Data from tolls on toll roads are the highest in Britain, France, and Italy, while the cheapest are in Turkey, and Eastern Europe generally in the Balkan Region. Moreover, European countries that have high toll road prices have more than one free alternative for the movement of vehicles.

For example, Western European countries have a very efficient rail network, and also other inland routes as alternatives. Toll roads in the EU and Europe ensure high speed and great time savings. While the Thumana-Kashar highway, is among the most expensive tolls, no solution was given even in terms of costs (fuel + traffic).

In Europe, 11 countries do not apply fees for vehicles moving on the road, while in Eastern European countries fees are applied in the form of daily, monthly, and annual subscriptions.

Two days ago, large queues were formed on the new Thumana-Kashar road, which began testing payments to pass on the 21 kilometers built through the concession. The payment was removed after the heavy traffic.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy clarified on Tuesday that the company has carried out, in different time segments, limited tests of the payment system, to validate the system and the processing ability of the staff.

The public will be notified in advance of the payment start date and time, the Ministry said.

The 21 km Thumana-Kashar segment is a type A highway with a speed of 130 km per hour. For its construction, the concession form was used with private financing for 35 years. The revenue for the entire concession period with all VAT is calculated at Euro 1.6 billion. The value of the investment is Euro 271 million. From 2024 to 2031, the profit is guaranteed, as in the event of a decrease of income, the state budget will subsidize the loss and a EUR 22.8M guarantee has been made available from the state budget.