The impact of the tax hike is likely to be felt in a week, some market experts say.

Tarmo Kärsna, head of energy sales at fuel retailer Alexela, told ERR this reserve typically lasts from three to five days.

"The direct impact of the diesel excise tax rise will be 3.3 cents per liter inclusive of VAT," Kärsna said.

Another factor is world prices, which are currently falling, he added.

"The price of fuel sold at filling stations is predominantly influenced by the global market price, which has been falling for diesel in the last two days," Kärsna went on.

"If this downward trend continues, the fall in purchase price could offset the excise rise, so the price per liter pumped by consumers may not rise [yet]," he added.

The excise duty hike does not apply to gasoline.

Erki Lõhmuste, head of the Ministry of Finance's macroeconomics department, told ERR that excise duties on diesel, natural gas and electricity will gradually rise back to pre-pandemic levels, over the course of the next three years and starting from this year.

As noted, diesel fuel will become more expensive by 3.3 cents per liter., while excise duties on the energy types noted above - that applied to electricity will increase by almost a half – are set to cause a 0.07 percent rise in prices this year.

The current price of diesel at pump is around the €1.599 per liter-mark, lower than it had been towards the end of last year (for instance in mid-October. Another factor here is the use of winter-proof diesel, which in any case costs more, during the colder months.

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