The northern section of the WHSD is preparing to move under the control of the Northern Capital Highway consortium

In March 2013, the northern section of the Western High-Speed Diameter will be transferred to the management of the Northern Capital Highway consortium, which plans to introduce tolls on the section within a month. Experts say that if the fare reaches 100 rubles, as on the southern section of the WHSD, then traffic on this section of the road will not decrease.

Photo: Alexander Chizhenok, Kommersant / buy photo

As Kommersant was told by WHSD OJSC, which is 100% owned by the city, active preparatory work is now underway to transfer the northern section of the WHSD to the Northern Capital Highway consortium (MSS), owned by VTB Capital and Gazprombank. The transfer of the site is scheduled for March 2014. The consortium will collect money for travel on the northern and southern sections of the WHSD until 2042. Both facilities were built entirely at the expense of the federal and city budgets (the southern one cost 47 billion rubles, the northern one - 36 billion rubles).

When asked when it is planned to introduce a toll for using the northern section of the road, MSS director Alexey Bnatov answered floridly: “We believe that when the section is transferred, there will be no reason why the introduction of a toll will be impossible within a month.”

The southern section, which stretches from the Ring Road to the embankment of the Ekateringofka River, is already in operation by the consortium and, as Kommersant previously wrote, the cost of travel along the southern section of the WHSD ranges from 10 to 100 rubles, depending on the class of vehicle and the time of day. Previously, WHSD did not rule out the possibility of dividing the site into two zones with a fare of 25 rubles for each.

On the northern section of the WHSD, which was opened to traffic in August 2013, motorists still travel for free. The amount of payment for traffic along it has not yet been established, but travel through the section is also planned to be differentiated. The WHSD previously said that the northern section would be divided into four zones: from Primorskoye Highway to the Ring Road (Ring Road), from the Ring Road to the Scandinavia Highway, from Primorsky to Bogatyrsky Prospekt.

According to the director of NP ASDOR, Yuri Agafonov, it is likely that with the introduction of tolls on the northern section of the WHSD, traffic will decrease slightly, but only at first. “Today, thanks to this highway, you can conveniently and quickly leave the city. I myself use the northern section - leaving the city takes me 15 minutes. In my opinion, the fare of 100 rubles is more than acceptable, since the section is small. In Europe , depending on the length of the route, the cost fluctuates around five to nine euros,” says Mr. Agafonov

As Kommersant previously wrote, to operate the toll highway, MSS will attract the company Expressway Operator - North LLC. According to SPARK-Interfax, 99% of the company's shares belong to MCC and 0.1% of shares belong to VTB Capital (VTB Capital Infrustructure Holdings Ltd).

At the same time, analysts predict that tolls on the highway will still increase due to the concessionaire's transition to paying land tax based on the cadastral value of the land.

“The WHSD, after transfer to the concessionaire, will become one of the largest owners of land plots in St. Petersburg. Accordingly, their property tax at the book value will be very high, the land tax will increase. Previously, the state managed the facility - accordingly, the tax was paid by the state,” said head of the analytical department of IC LMS Dmitry Kumanovsky . In general, the analyst summarizes, the WHSD has not yet had a significant impact on unloading the center of St. Petersburg from excess traffic flow, since it has still not been possible to remove freight transport from the city limits.

It is worth noting that, according to the terms of the concession agreement, since the spring of 2013, MSS has been constructing the central section of the WHSD. The project is being implemented by two contractors - the Italian Astaldi and the Turkish Ictas Insaat, the Turkish Ega Yapi Insaat ve Ticaret is the technical consultant. The construction of the most difficult section of the WHSD from a technical point of view will be financed by both private investors and the budget. In particular, 25 billion rubles will be invested by Vnesheconombank, 10 billion rubles by the Eurasian Development Bank, €200 million by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and VTB and Gazprombank will invest 8.5 billion rubles each. MSS will spend about 9 billion rubles from its own funds, and another 51 billion will be allocated from the budget.

As Kommersant previously wrote, the minimum guaranteed income that the concessionaire must receive from the operation of the toll section of the WHSD is 9.67 billion rubles per year. If MSS cannot earn this minimum, then the missing amount will be compensated from the city budget; if the concessionaire earns more than the agreed amount, then 90% of the excess income will go to the city budget. If the concessionaire is unable to fulfill its obligations and build the site in three years, then MCC will lose 2 billion rubles per year of delay.

Yulia Chayun

The transfer will be completed in the spring