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France to pay firm 403 million euros for scrapping ecotax toll

Ecomouv was to run controversial 'ecotax' road toll to raise money to fund rail and other infrastructure projects, but which led to protests.

La rédaction de Mediapart

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France will pay Ecomouv net indemnity of 403 million euros (314 million pounds) in March for scrapping an "ecotax" toll road project, Italian highway group Atlantia said on Friday, reports Yahoo! News.

Ecomouv, 70 percent controlled by Atlantia, was created in 2011 to administer a motorway toll dubbed "ecotax", aimed at raising money to fund rail and other infrastructure projects.

The plan sparked protests by truck drivers that led to its eventual withdrawal - but only after Ecomouv had installed 173 electronic toll gates across France, worth up to 1 million euros each.

"The net indemnity covers investments - including repayment of part of the debt that will not be reimbursed by the (French) state - the return on invested capital and the voluntary liquidation of Ecomouv," Atlantia said in a statement.

Read more of this Reuters report published by Yahoo! News.