They are keeping the toll fare at 2,80 euros to continue capitalizing on it

The possibility that Attiki Odos might be handed back to the state 10 years earlier has been left open for the first time by Infrastructure minister Dimitris Reppas, and he admits that the shareholders artificially avoid raising the fare, thus creating «a revenue shortage which prolongs the opportunity to capitalize on the project».

This is probably the only motorway the contractors of which do not adhere to what has been agreed upon, since the fare today could have been 3,70 euros, but from 2005 until recently it was stuck at 2,70 and went up to 2,80 with indexation.

Noteworthy is the revelation that the golden highway has passed through the sieve of the ministry of Finance and has also occupied SDOE! «The ministry is checking tax and other data through its own services, such as the IRS, VAT, and SDOE, which has concerned itself with the company»

Expediting the handing back of the project – it was scheduled for 2024, but the minister spoke of 2014 – is attributed by Reppas to the increase of traffic beyond expectations on a road which, despite the crisis that has decreased transportation by 7%, was used by 281.000 vehicles last year.

Under the pressure of having to find new revenue and the intense rumors that Attiki Odos is has been paid for in full, the minister admits that last year he commissioned a study on the financial state of the project from the Major Projects Division of the National Bank.  
 
Talking to a radio show on Real FM, Reppas said that in the findings which were submitted to the ministry last May, there is no conclusion that the road can be handed back to the state immediately.

The minister’s statements come at a time when the Attiki Odos contractors are pressing for an extension of the concession contract, taking up necessary projects for the improvement of the road.  

To show the strict control exercised by the state on the highway, minister Reppas also said that the passage of vehicles is monitored electronically and in real time through a system installed in the Attiki Odos service and then the passages are compared with the data from monthly reports submitted by the contractor.