A4 Motorway Krakow–Katowice (Poland's first toll motorway)

The A4 motorway section between Katowice and Krakow, 61 km long, was Poland's first toll motorway, delivered under a public-private partnership formula. The tender for the toll A4 was announced by the Agency for the Construction and Operation of Motorways as the first of its kind in the country in 1995. On 19 September 1997 the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Economy, on behalf of the State Treasury, granted the company Stalexport SA a 30-year concession to build the section by adapting it for tolling and to operate it; the concession runs in the years 1997–2027 and expires on 15 March 2027. Tolls are collected at two toll plazas — in Mysłowice and in Balice. In December 2005 the concessionaire (Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska SA) concluded a credit agreement with a consortium of four banks for an amount of up to PLN 380 million, financing, among other things, the resurfacing of the entire 61 km section, the modernization of 31 bridge structures, the construction of 15 emergency crossovers and 10 km of noise barriers; in 2016 the A4Go electronic toll collection system was launched. The road remains owned by the State Treasury; the majority shareholder of the Stalexport Autostrady S.A. group is Mundys S.p.A. (formerly Atlantia S.p.A.), holding 61.20% of shares and votes.