Tolls suggested for Russian trucks on Finnish roads

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An experimental toll for the next three years is being suggested on Russian trucks, for burdening the roads in Southern Finland. The toll would come into force from the beginning of next year.
     
A motion for the toll was made by the Green League MP Erkki Pulliainen, and it was supported by 40 representatives from both government and opposition parties. On Wednesday the motion was forwarded to the Parliamentary Transport & Communications Committee.
      A motion by an MP rarely results in an actual law. The Ministry of Transport and Communications has in the past objected to such tolls.
      According to Pulliainen's motion, tolls would be collected from heavy transport on a few southern routes: between Hanko and Karjaa, between Vironlahti and the Vaalimaa border crossing, and between Lappeenranta and the Nuijamaa border crossing point. A single payment of EUR 20 to 35 would be levied on these stretches.
      The toll would not be limited to Russian trucks alone, though they are exceptionally frequent users of the routes in question.
      A journey from Hanko to Vaalimaa would cost a truck in the most expensive payment category two tolls, in other words EUR 70. Buses, together with police and army vehicles, on the other hand, would be exempt from the toll.
      According to Pulliainen, the technology for collecting the toll already exists.
     
In the Parliamentary discussion preceding the drafting of the motion, the Chairman of the Transport & Communications Committee Markku Laukkanen (Centre) was quick to praise the idea. In Laukkanen's view, the government has been "sluggish" in the matter.
      The former transport trade union leader Risto Kuisma (SDP) admitted to having objected to such tolls before, but found Pulliainen's idea worthy of support. "The situation between Hanko and Vaalimaa is unbearable", he added.
      As many recent articles have noted, the volume of Russian traffic, in particular car transporters shipping new vehicles east, has increased severalfold over the last few years. Long columns of car transporters can be seen daily on the run from the entry-port in Hanko towards the eastern border.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russian truck swerves off road near Kotka (9.2.2006)
  Russia-bound cargo on Finnish roads is growing dramatically (8.2.2006)
  Trucks held up in Russia allowed to return to Finland (17.11.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat