By approving amendments to Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 332 of 26 September 2000 “Requirements for Conformity Assessment of Petrol and Diesel Fuel”, at the Cabinet of Ministers meeting on 14 June this year, the government decided that for a year and a half – from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2023 – the biofuel admixture in fuel is voluntary, which means that fuel retailers or undertakings selling the fuel wholesale will be able to choose themselves whether to add or not to add a biofuel admixture.
The rise in fuel prices observed in recent months has a negative impact on both households and businesses, particularly businesses in the transport sectors. Given the role of the transport sector in the intermediate consumption of other sectors, the downstream impact of the increase in fuel prices is felt by virtually all sectors of the economy. Therefore different options for reducing fuel prices are considered within the Energy Security Working Group and in other formats. We have now agreed that the cancellation of the biofuel admixture requirement for the period until the end of 2023 would be the quickest and most effective solution,” the Minister of Economics Ilze Indriksone indicates.
The Ministry of Economics drafted the proposal to temporarily reject mandatory biofuel admixture for petrol and diesel fuel, with a view to reducing the retail price of fuel in the situation of growing global energy prices (a 65%-70% increase since the beginning of 2020), while taking into account the political agreement and without prejudice to the tax conditions applicable to fuel.