Vinetka in Bulgaria – what is it and how does it work?

All country roads in Bulgaria are toll roads. You can only drive for free on city streets. To pay for travel you need a vignette (in Bulgarian – vinetka). In the article we tell you what the price of a vignette is, how to purchase it and what fines apply for violating travel requirements.

Vignette price and validity period

You can ride a motorcycle on toll roads for free. To travel along the republican roads of Bulgaria by car you will have to buy a vignette. Its price depends on the category of the vehicle:

• K1 – cars with a gross weight of 12 tons;
• K2 – cars with a gross weight from 3.5 to 12 tons and buses;
• K3 – passenger cars, including those with a trailer.

For trucks and buses, environmental class is also important. If the vehicle is Euro 2 or lower, toll roads will cost more. Prices for vignettes with different validity periods are shown in the table. When purchasing, you yourself indicate the date from which the right to travel will be counted.

Please note: the vignette for trucks and buses is only valid until August 15, 2019. On August 16, 2019, a new payment system will be introduced in the country – a road tax, the amount of which has not yet been established.

Vehicle category	Vignette validity period	Price in Bulgarian Leva (BGN)
		Car class – Euro 0, I, II	Euro III and higher
K1 (trucks over 12 tons)	day	23	23
	week	87	67
	month	174	134
K2 (trucks from 6 to 12 tons, buses)	day	23	23
	week	53	40
	month	105	80
K3 (passenger cars, including those with a trailer)	weekend	10
	week	15
	month	30
	3 months	54
	year	97

The “weekend” tariff for passenger cars is valid from 12:00 Friday to 23:59 Sunday, and only within the selected weekend.

Where to buy a vignette?

Since January 1, 2019, electronic vignettes (e-vignettes) have been in effect in Bulgaria. There is no longer any need to save the receipt and stick a sticker on the glass. If previously vignettes were sold in the form of stickers, now the information is stored in an electronic database.

Купить виньетку можно одним из следующих способов:

• on the website web.bgtoll.bg, paying for the purchase with a Visa, MasterCard or Bulgarian BCard;
• in the BGTOLL application for iOS and Android, the payment methods are the same;
• at gas stations, post offices or one of 500 payment terminals;
• at border checkpoints;
• in the offices of the Road Infrastructure agency;
• through the mobile operator A1 – on the website a1.bg/e-vinetki, in the mobile application of the operator A1 or via SMS (the latter option is only for cars registered in Bulgaria).

You can buy a vignette no more than 30 days before the start of the validity period. See the map of sales points and paid areas on the BGTOLL website.

Fines for driving without a vignette

The exit to the toll road in Bulgaria is indicated by the “Vinetka” sign. Payment is monitored by automatic cameras and mobile crews. For driving without a vignette, a fine is issued – 300 BGN for passenger cars and 1800 BGN for trucks.

The fine will be canceled if the driver pays a compensation fee within 14 days – 70 BGN for passenger cars, 125 BGN for category 2 and 175 BGN for category 3.

You can pay the fee in the following ways:

• by bank card through a POS terminal, if the protocol was issued by the mobile crew;
• at vignette sales points;
• at the border checkpoint;
• by bank transfer.

It is not possible to pay a fine or compensation fee in cash when drawing up a protocol.

Toll roads in Bulgaria

There are 2 toll sections in Bulgaria, for which travel is paid separately. These include 2 bridges over the Danube on the Bulgarian-Romanian border between the following cities:

• Vidin and Kalafat (New Europe Bridge) – coordinates of the bridge on Google Maps;
• Ruse and Giurgiu (“Danube Bridge”) – coordinates of the bridge on Google Maps.

The fare is shown in the table. Motorcycles are free.

Vehicle category	New Europe (Vidin – Kalafat)	Danube Bridge (Ruse – Giurgiu)
Passenger cars (up to 8 seats)	€ 6	€ 2
Cars from 9 to 23 seats	€ 12	€ 12
Trucks with a gross weight of up to 3.5 tons	€ 6	€ 6
Freight from 3.5 to 7.5 t	€ 12	€ 12