"I will head into state budget strategy negotiations insisting that we also carry out a reduction in the excise duty on diesel," Helme told ERR.

According to the minister, arguments in favor of the excise duty cut are the same as for reducing the alcohol excise duty rate earlier this year. "This will increase domestic consumption and offset the negative to accompany the lowering of taxes," he said. "But it will also have a broader impact on prices and employment as well as the resulting labor taxes."

Tuesday's edition of daily Eesti Päevaleht (EPL, link in Estonian) cited the opinion of Estonian Logistics and Freight Forwarding Association (ELEA) Secretary General Katre Kasepõld, according to which the effects of the entry of Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish carriers onto the Estonian transport market are being increasingly felt, as their advantages include lower labor costs and cheaper fuel.

The excise duty rate on diesel fuel is currently €0.53 per liter in Finland, €0.493 per liter in Estonia, €0.347 per liter in Lithuania, and €0.372 per liter this year and €0.414 per liter next year in Latvia.

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