Ingmar Roos, head of Lux Ekspress, said bus fuel now costs over 30 percent more than the company had forecast for this year, with further rises possible

The rise will add 50 cents to €1 to full-fare tickets on the Tallinn–Narva and Tallinn–Pärnu routes.

The cost of diesel has driven up expenses and inflation across many sectors. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kaubandus-tööstuskoda) has proposed to the government that fuel excise could be lowered in response, as many European countries, including Estonia's neighbors, have done.

"This does not compensate consumers and businesses for all the price growth there has been in fuel, and the reasons are known to everyone — they are not tax-related. But it would help to ease the situation to some extent. The costs that have grown in recent months are large, and in the millions, not insignificant numbers," said Mait Palts, director general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The world market price of diesel is double what it was a year ago; motor fuel is a significant cost for many business sectors.

"Our services have certainly become more expensive. And it is absolutely certain that for manufacturing and retail companies this is also an extremely important cost component. And where it used to be customary to account for the fuel factor once a month, in conditions of such volatility there is no other option — we have moved to weekly accounting. So changes in fuel prices change our expenditure prices weekly," said Alvar Tõruke, chairman of the board of DSV Eesti.

Lux Ekspress has already adjusted ticket prices. If fuel prices do not fall by November, bus lines face further increases, Roos noted.

"As a company operating solely on ticket revenues, we have to pass this cost on to passengers in some way. And if we avoided price rises in the spring, in an effort to attract more passengers against the background of the sharp fuel price increase, then today we really do have to raise ticket prices to some extent. Perhaps, understandably for bus passengers, the order of magnitude on the Tallinn-Narva and Tallinn-Pärnu routes for a full ticket will be around 50 cents to one euro," he said.

The government's assessment is that lowering excise is not viable.

"Such a reduction to the minimum level would be €210 million for a full year. That has to come from somewhere. On the one hand we understand businesses' concern, on the other we have to look at the overall competitiveness of the economy and the state of public finances," said Climate Minister Erkki Keldo.

The diesel price spike has mostly been driven by the war in the Middle East, which has disrupted supply. The G7 countries have released 100 million barrels of oil and diesel to be released from reserves in an effort to counter skyrocketing prices, following a threat by the Trump administration to impose an export ban on EU nations. Military ground vehicles also run primarily on diesel.

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