Oil association: Estonia looking at cross-border fuel trade again
The Latvian government's Tuesday decision to lift motor fuels' biofuel component requirement until the end of 2023 will result in the return of cross-border fuel trade to Estonia and loss of tax revenue, Mart Raamat, chairman of the Estonian Oil Association, writes in daily Postimees.
"If the government's aim in drawing up the supplementary budget was to disadvantage Vladimir Putin, unfortunately, its reluctance to review excise policy will do the same for Estonian residents and companies," Mart Raamat notes in a Postimees opinion piece (link in Estonian).
Raamat said that almost all countries in the region and Europe have taken steps to lower extremely high fuel prices. "Therefore, the Latvian government's Tuesday decision to lift the bioadditives requirement until the end of 2023 hardly came as a surprise. The Latvians hope the move will lower prices at the pumps by 12-14 cents."
This would make gasoline 20 cents and diesel 10 cents cheaper compared to Estonia.
Even though average prices in gas stations have grown by 46 percent year-over-year, Estonia's finance minister saw no reason to lower the duties, Raamat remarked.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
Source: Postimees
