Transport Ministry wants to increase duty free fuel import quota for trucks coming in from Russia
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The Ministry of Transport and Communications wants to boost the competitiveness of Finnish haulage firms by allowing lorries registered in Finland and other countries of the European Union to bring twice as much fuel in their tanks into Finland from Russia.
Under the proposed legislative change, Finnish and other EU trucks would be allowed to bring in 800 litres of fuel without paying duty. In addition, the tanks of refrigerated containers, for instance, would be allowed to have up to 200 litres of duty free fuel.
A law passed in 1995 restricted the amount of fuel that trucks can bring back from Russia to 400 litres per vehicle.
Russian vehicles have no such restriction, putting the transport companies of EU countries at a disadvantage.
The ministry feels that negotiations could be held later on changing the road haulage treaty between the countries so that restrictions would be imposed on fuel imports by Russian trucks as well.
For instance, a working group on transport of cars to Russia through Finland proposed setting a quota for fuel carried in the tanks of Russian cars as a way of alleviating traffic congestion at the border.
This would also improve the competitiveness of rail transport for cars for delivery to Russia.
Helsingin Sanomat
