From next year, the price of Slovak e-vignettes will continue to rise. At least in exchange for this, all sections of the country's highways will be usable, one might think. But what happens if the state entrusts the Carpathian Tunnel as part of the M4 highway to Chinese construction companies and charges a fee for transit? Such a plan has emerged as a realistic possibility since the construction of the Carpathian Tunnel is expensive and the state might not have sufficient resources for it. Paying tolls for tunnels is not unfamiliar, as it is customary for Norwegians or Alpine drivers, reminds the Hospodárske noviny daily.
The Carpathian Tunnel could be 12 kilometers long and its construction might cost around 1.7 billion euros. Would the fees paid by drivers cover at least part of this amount? This was reported by Transport Minister Jozef Ráž. Thus, Chinese companies could build this section of the M4 and then collect money for its use. However, experts warn that funding would not be entirely market-based and to some extent, the state would also need to share in covering the costs of the section between Rača and Záhorská Bystrica due to public interest considerations. Slovakia shows interest in the TBM (tunnel boring machine) method, which uses a tunnel shield. However, handing over the project to Chinese companies could involve risks, especially regarding their expertise with the European market. Such problems have previously arisen in railway constructions in the EU, which were also entrusted to China.
It is also almost certain that the Ministry of Transport would face criticisms for providing fewer job opportunities for domestic construction companies. An entire separate article could be written about the geopolitical consequences alone.
