A note was released by the Stretto di Messina company regarding the economic and financial plan for the Strait Bridge. CEO Pietro Ciucci intervenes to clarify doubts and controversies about the economic sustainability of the work and the use of public resources.
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“There is no project financing, but an Economic and Financial Plan with non-refundable public resources (13.5 billion) which do not have to be repaid”. Thus the CEO of the Strait of Messina Pietro Ciucci comments on some interpretations that have emerged in the press in recent days which raise doubts about the economic sustainability of the bridge over the Strait of Messina. “The Strait of Messina is an in-house company of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and subject to the control of the Ministry of Infrastructure and is not expected to make profits. Therefore the expected revenues from the toll are solely intended to cover management and maintenance costs and for this reason it has been possible to significantly reduce the crossing tariffs compared to the current ferry system.
The toll envisaged in the Economic and Financial Plan for cars will be between approximately 4 and 7 euros per route (80% less than the ferry), with the most favorable value being a same-day return trip. For trucks/TIRs the fare is approximately 100 euros (20% less than the ferry). The total revenues expected from the toll are equal to approximately 125 million euros which guarantee, during the period of operation of the Opera, the economic-financial balance of the concession and the full coverage of operating costs, ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. This is because, as noted several times, the investment for the construction of the Bridge, amounting to 13.5 billion, is entirely covered by public resources in the form of non-repayable contributions and therefore not to be reimbursed.
For the sustainability of the PEF and the consequent coverage of costs, a traffic of 4.5 million vehicles has been estimated. The traffic estimate underlying the PEF derives from the application to vehicular traffic, which currently affects the Strait, of growth rates of 1.5% and 2% per year, respectively for passengers and goods. To the aforementioned increase is added the induced demand, linked both to the improvement of accessibility and to the lowering of tariffs compared to the current cost. The growth rates were estimated by analyzing the overall Sicily – rest of Italy traffic which, in the last decade, has recorded a growth of 21% for passengers and 24% for goods for all transport modes, despite the economic crisis of 2010/12 and the effects of Covid19″.