The Portuguese Association of Concessionaires of Highways or Bridges with Tolls (APCAP) confirmed this Tuesday the availability for a price update for 2023 below 10%, resulting from the mechanism defined in the contracts.
In a statement, the association reinforced “the availability already demonstrated by the concessionaires for an update lower than that stipulated by the concession contracts” and clarified that “strict compliance with the legal decrees governing the concession contracts is the only justification for the value proposed by the concessionaires to the Ministry of Finance”.
APCAP recalled that the annual toll update mechanism is defined in all national concession and sub-concession contracts, with some contracts for 90% of the Consumer Price Index (IPC) and others for 100%, measured between September and October of each year, depending on each contract.
This year, concessionaires’ update proposals are between 9% and 10%, “after still no response has been received from the grantor,” the association added.
“The various manifestations of APCAP and its associates in their willingness to apply an update lower than that stipulated in the concession contracts are public, pending a response from the grantor in this regard,” he underlined.
On Saturday, the general secretary of the PS, António Costa, declared that nothing would justify a 10% increase in tolls and promised to intervene so that there is no “profit from” inflation.
“What would justify a 10% increase in tolls in January? Nothing,” he said at the XXth federal congress of the PS/Castelo Branco, which took place in Covilhã.
Source: DN
