The Sale of Vignettes for 2018 Starts Up Prior to Christmas

The sale of vignettes for 2018 starts up from Friday, 22 December. There will be over 2,1 million vignettes in the distribution network, out of which 900 thousand will be annual vignettes for cars.

2018 will be the third consecutive year in which prices for all car vignettes will remain unchanged. The annual vignette costs 97 BGN, the monthly one – 30 BGN and the weekly one – 15 BGN. This will be the last year where paper stickers will be used. With the establishment and introduction of the toll system in 2019, entirely electronic toll service will be implemented.

Cars and vehicles up to 3,5 tons fall into Category 3, while heavy trucks and buses fall into Category 1 and 2.

It’s the first time that the annual vignette for all vehicles will be valid for a period of one year from the date of purchase, i.e. if a driver purchases a sticker, for example, on 2 March 2018 or 5 May 2018, when he leaves for the holidays, it will be valid until 1 March 2019 or 4 May 2019. Currently, the annual vignette is valid until 31 January, regardless of the date of purchase.

2018 will be the first year with a quarterly vignette for cars. Its price is 54 BGN. It will allow people who drive their cars mainly during summer, during a longer holiday, or who are not permanent residents of the country, to use a sticker for a shorter period.

The quarterly vignette price is determined based on the principle of proportionality – the price should be higher than the monthly and lower than the annual one, keeping proportionality for increasing value with increasing validity. This means that the longer the validity of the vignette, the more favorable its price is for the driver. For example, in purchasing an annual vignette for 97 BGN, its use on the national road network for a month costs 8 BGN, while the quarterly vignette for 54 BGN costs 18 BGN per month, which is over two times more.

The only change with vignettes for trucks over 3.5 tons is the daily vignette price which is going to be 23 BGN next year (currently, it’s 21 BGN).

All these changes are connected with the European requirements in the field of road tolling and Directive 1999/62/EC, according to which the daily charge is the same for all categories of vehicles. It is expected that the increase by 2 BGN of daily stickers will lead to the increase in revenues of nearly 2.8 million BGN. All these funds will be invested in improving road infrastructure.

As is the case each year, the graphical layout of 2018 vignettes has been changed for a higher level of protection and to block the possibility of forgery. The effects and security components used are unprecedented on the market. All are based on special paper with graphical and security features. Unique nanotechnology is used in developing the hologram which has three levels of protection. All stickers have double numbering – a consecutive and a random number, where the combination of the two numbers is also a type of protection.

Until 31 December this year, there will be parallel sale of vignettes for 2017 and 2018. This means that if a driver purchases a weekly or a monthly vignette for 2017, let’s say on 31 December, it will be validated on 31 December and will be valid in the next seven days or for one calendar month. The 2017 annual stickers for all types of vehicles are valid until 31 January 2018.

Since the beginning of the year, until November 2017, 6.9 million vignettes have been sold. Accrued revenue is 338 million BGN. Compared to the same period, last year, the accrued revenue increase with 20 million BGN and the number of sold stickers is increased with over half a million.

Of the 338 million BGN collected so far, nearly 244 million BGN come from drivers of cars and about 95 million BGN come from drivers of trucks over 3.5 tons.

221.930 free annual vignettes have been provided until the end of November 2017 to the Social Assistance Directorates. These are for 21.5 million BGN and are for the account of the Road Infrastructure Agency budget. Last year, until the end of November, 210.903 vignettes have been provided which is 11.027 less.

Drivers should buy vignettes only from the places, officially designated for the purpose. Such are the big petrol stations and the commercial chains, the Bulgarian Post Offices, the Regional Road Administrations and the Border Control Checkpoints.  Vignettes are sold in over 3 000 distribution points, 372 of them working round the clock. When purchasing a vignette, citizens should request a cash register receipt, with the registration number of the motor vehicle in it.

The complete list of the distribution network is published on the web site of the Road Infrastructure Agency – www.api.bg.