Refineries, the Polish state and Polish consumers will spend an extra zł.3.3 billion this year because of the European Union's requirement that certain amounts of ecological fuel be sold, reported Rzeczpospolita.
Orlen and Lotos, two of Poland’s largest fuel companies, estimate that meeting EU biofuel sales quotas will diminish their profits by around zł.900 million. Refiners have to subsidize the sale of biofuels or else face high fines. Biofuels will need to constitute at least 6.2 percent of their annual sales.
The situation often forces both Orlen and Lotos to sell pure esters for prices lower than that which they paid for them.
Biofuel quotas for Poland are among the highest in the European Union, at 6.2 percent, and generally increase every year.
The average index of biofuel usage in other EU countries is around 4.5 percent.
Until recently, losses linked to the biofuel sales quotas were lower because the state budget supported oil firms with tax relief of zł.1.5 billion.
Now, the government has withdrawn from the program, although it plans to resume financing for the promotion of ecological fuels some time next year.
So far, it has set aside zł.400 million for this purpose.
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