Tusk Signals Fuel Price Moves: “We Are Ready”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the government may introduce regulated fuel prices for the final two weeks of the holiday season if global oil prices rise again due to the Middle East situation.

Regulated Fuel Prices at the End of the Holiday Season

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the government may introduce regulated fuel prices for the last two weeks of the summer holidays, if global oil prices rise again due to the situation in the Middle East.

Speaking at a press conference in Głuchołazy, Tusk stated that he discussed the matter with the finance minister. He noted that if the situation proves unstable and prices trend upward, the administration will propose a solution to enforce regulated fuel prices for at least the final two weeks of the holidays, coinciding with the start of travel returns, despite the presidential referral of the windfall tax bill to the Constitutional Tribunal.

On Monday afternoon, Brent crude oil stood at approximately $89 per barrel, after temporarily exceeding $100 per barrel the previous week.

Ministry of Energy Considerations and Alternative Measures

Potential actions were also addressed by Ministry of Energy leadership during a Monday conference in Warsaw.

Deputy Minister of Energy Konrad Wojnarowski stated that the ministry is planning for the future to introduce further mechanisms despite President Karol Nawrocki’s decision, depending on how the geopolitical situation affects markets, margins, and ultimately fuel prices. Such an action could involve a VAT reduction for the final holiday period, serving as a substitute for the CPN program to lower fuel prices, a measure currently being developed with the finance minister.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Wojciech Wrochna assessed that it is still too early to indicate the criteria for implementing such a solution.

Windfall Tax on Fuel Companies

Wrochna also informed that the government may propose a systemic taxation system for fuel companies starting in January 2027, admitting it could resemble the CIT model applied to banks. He told journalists that if the main argument against the current legislation is its retroactivity, it may be necessary to consider a tax directed toward the future.

He conceded that the proposed tax might also encompass gas companies. Wrochna added that if market conditions unjustively yield profits for gas and refining sectors that do not stem solely from business efficiency, room exists to consider a tax of a more systemic character if not an extraordinary one.

Presidential Referral and Criticized Revenue Loss

Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the decision made by President Karol Nawrocki, who referred the fuel companies’ windfall tax act to the Constitutional Tribunal under preventive control on Friday. The envisaged levy, known as a windfall tax, aimed to burden producers and importers of fuels who achieved above-average income amid energy market destabilization following the Middle East conflict outbreak.

Expressing regret over the 4 billion PLN allocated for lowering fuel prices, the Prime Minister remarked that while they had the CPN program, Karol Nawrocki funded the CKN, as stated in his post on X.

CPN Program and Fuel Price Reductions

Revenues from the new levy were intended to partially offset budgetary revenue losses resulting from reduced VAT rates on fuels to 8 percent and minimal EU-level excise reductions under the CPN shielding package introduced at the end of March. The bill referred to the Tribunal assumes liquid fuel producers and sellers will pay a total of 4 billion PLN in windfall taxes from heightened fuel prices, with 3.8 billion PLN due this year and the remainder in 2027.

The CPN program expired at the end of June, terminating the provisions enforcing reduced VAT rates on specific fuels and establishing maximum prices at petrol stations, while excise reduction provisions expired earlier in mid-June. The Ministry of Finance reported that the cost of the CPN program reached approximately 4.7 billion PLN.