The Center Party's proposal would temporarily reduce value-added tax on motor fuels to 13 percent and cancel the fuel excise duty increase planned to take effect on May 1.

A bill from the Isamaa parliamentary group would scrap the excise increases scheduled for May 1: 5 percent on gasoline, 7 percent on diesel fuel, 18 percent on natural gas and 46 percent on electricity.

According to Mihhail Kõlvart, chairman of the Center Party, the sharp deterioration of the international security situation has caused major disruptions in energy and commodity markets. He said the government must do everything possible to halt rising fuel prices for end consumers.

"A temporary reduction of the VAT rate applied to motor fuels to 13 percent is a justified measure to mitigate the impact of fuel price increases caused by the extraordinary international situation on the Estonian economy," the Center Party leader explained.

"The planned excise increase, together with the 24 percent VAT, would raise fuel prices by nearly four cents per liter and take about €48 million from consumers' wallets each year. The additional cost would be passed on to the final prices of goods and services and in extraordinary circumstances the government has a duty to prevent this," Kõlvart said.

Explaining his party's proposal, Aivar Kokk, deputy chairman of Isamaa, said the war in the Middle East could last for an unknown period and has brought exceptional instability to the fuel market.

"The Riigikogu must do everything in its power to prevent the price shock from worsening and to reduce the impact of the fuel crisis on inflation in Estonia, so that people's ability to cope and companies' competitiveness do not suffer an additional blow. The fastest way to do this is to cancel the excise increase on energy carriers and electricity planned for this year — in fact already for May 1," Kokk said.

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