Knut Arild Nordli owns and operates several heavy truck schools in Western Norway. This means that he fills up the tank on a trailer about every other day. In the course of one year, these landfills will cost more than one million kroner in VAT and diesel taxes. It is a lot of money for a company with four employees, and a sum of money he must agree to keep paying in the future. It is clear after the Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) states that “there are no changes to the fuel taxes in our tax and duty scheme no”. The statement came after pressure from political opponents as well as political allies. news has previously written about county stoppers and mayors from the Center Party who have called for action from the “boss” to do something about the “dramatic energy prices”. NO THANKS: – I will not have anything from the state, but they will not have twice as much of us, says Knut Arild Nordli who owns and runs several heavy truck schools in Western Norway. Photo: Lars Eie / news Sweden cuts the fuel tax by NOK 1.30 per liter Several people have also pointed out that other countries around Europe have to a greater extent «recognized the galloping fuel prices». – The vast majority of countries we like to compare ourselves with have offensive countermeasures to spare motorists, says Thor Egil Braadland in NAF. In May, the Swedish government cut the fuel tax by NOK 1.30 per liter. Former employees have Denmark, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, Great Britain, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain take various measures to curb pump prices. Last out is Germany, which this month reduced taxes to a minimum level. – The districts will be hardest hit Asgeir Gil, county leader in Sogn og Fjordane Truck Owners’ Association – It is very disappointing that commercial transport is not met with any kind of tax relief from the current government. Since early March, the NLF has tried to cut taxes to help a very pressured transport industry, the response from the government has been “wait and see”. The answer we received today was once again very disappointing. Once again, it is the districts that are hardest hit. It should be possible to provide remedial measures for commercial transport, without this being decisive for overheating in the economy. Increased costs for transport buyers must also be recovered from increased costs for the end product, which in turn will drive inflation up. With the tax relief that is given in other countries, the distortion of competition for Norwegian carriers becomes even greater, as foreign trucks can enter the country with several hundred liters of diesel in the tanks, and thus have less costs than Norwegian trucks. There are also many who have difficulty regulating their agreements in order to reduce their increased costs, especially in relation to state doctors or municipal contracts. If we look back to 2020, the net diesel price was just over 11 kroner, today the net price is almost 20 kroner. And this is a huge increase in costs for our industry. There is a lot one might want to say today, the disappointment is great, not everything is suitable for saying in the media. This can have major consequences for many in the industry. It should also be noted that many of our transport buyers have shown great understanding for meeting us with increased freight, but it is also a pain point for many companies in the districts. Nordli therefore had a hope that the Norwegian government would be inspired by the neighbors on the continent, and cut VAT. – I will not have anything from the state, but the state will not have twice as much of us, he says. Geir A. Mo is director of the Norwegian Truck Owners’ Association. – We are an international industry, and if our competitors in surrounding countries benefit from various facilities, this will lead to skewed competition since these also operate in the Norwegian market, he says (see fact box for additional answers). – Price week hits commercial transport hard Geir A. Mo, CEO of the Norwegian Truck Owners Association (NLF) – In a few days we have two new price records for diesel. Never before has diesel been so expensive in Norway. Such sharp increases in a short time means that companies do not get to compensate for this with their customers – and those who are the worst to negotiate with are the public sector itself. SVV and other public actors refuse to compensate the transport companies at the same time as the state itself rakes in billions. This price week hits food transport hard. We need targeted measures to prevent Norwegian jobs from disappearing and for transport to stop, as the NLF, together with many other organizations, demands. The government, led by Finance Minister Vedum, has long said it will assess the situation and take action if it gets worse. Now it’s not only worse, now it’s at the breaking point! Norway currently has enormous extra income and some of this we expect to be used to save an industry affected by consequences far beyond our control. We are an international industry, and if our competitors in surrounding countries benefit from various facilities that offer lower fuel prices than in Norway, this will lead to skewed competition in these since these also operate in the Norwegian market. – Should reset the road use fee for public transport NHO Transport organizes Norwegian bus companies, which also know the fuel prices. – The government should reset the road use tax for public transport until fuel prices are reduced to the previous level. We have addressed this with both ministers and the Storting, says Jon H. Stordrange, who is CEO of NHO Transport. In the Government’s reasoning, it is the budget balance and the risk of overheating and (even) higher interest rates that mean that it is not relevant to reduce pump prices. On Friday, Statistics Norway (SSB) presented figures showing that prices in May were 5.7 per cent higher than last year. This is the highest price increase over twelve months since 1988. – Nobody buys anything without transport being involved. Such lower transport costs will be a good measure to reduce cost development, says Tore Wallestad, who is a daily camper at Tenden Transport in Stryn in Nordfjord. He points out that their companies have been content to introduce their own “oil surcharge”, a variable mark-up which is always adjusted according to the diesel price and which comes on top of the price that customers otherwise have to pay. – We have no choice but to do something else. The alternative is to lay off employees, says Wallestad. – We are disappointed with the government’s action power Gunnar Nordvik, senior adviser in the Transport & Logistics Association – We are disappointed with the government’s action power in this case. Country after country has lowered fuel taxes. Then the government owes the people an explanation that goes a little deeper than the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine. If the government can live with today’s fuel prices, then they must explain to the people why in a credible way. We think this is a minimum requirement. We register that more and more transport companies are struggling with the economy now, and you should not have so many horrible lorries before the increase in diesel prices represents monthly extra expenses in the millions. FEIGE LAG: – If our competitors in the surrounding countries benefit from various facilities, this will lead to skewed competition, says Geir A. Mo, director of the Norwegian Truck Owners Association. Photo: Braata, Espen / Braata, Espen The Minister hopes that the price will soon go down again The government declaration – the so-called Hurdal platform – states that “the government will reduce taxes that affect most people, such as fuel taxes”, and in March Vedum announced that the government would “take action” if the price level continued. At that time, the price was 26 kroner. “I think the prices of fuel are now high and understand that many hope that the price will soon go down again,” wrote Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) in a written response to the Storting last week. In Politisk Kvarter on Friday morning, the leader of the Sogn og Fjordane Center Party, Erlend Haugen Herstad, called for “targeted measures for heavy transport and machine operators who have big ideas to fill.” He expressed understanding that the government “must assess this against interest rate increases”, but added that targeted measures, such as “for example favorable loans”, in total will be price-reducing and “do something about inflation”. REVISED: Kari Elisabeth Kaski (SV), Geir Pollestad (Sp) and Eigil Knutsen (Labor Party) during the first meeting in the negotiations on the revised national budget in the Council Chamber in the Storting. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB – Will not sit and give people hopes State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Geir Pollestad (Sp), who came to Politisk Kvarter on behalf of the government, replied that the idea of a loan to the transport industry was “a constructive input”, but that he “does not want to sit and give people hope.” “Otherwise we fool people,” he said. He acknowledged that the situation was “unpleasant” and it is “a difficult pedagogical exercise” to talk about expensive time, “interest ghost” and frugality when the Norwegian economy is doing well. – It is going very well in Norway, and then we have to reduce spending. He added that it would cost the state 12 billion to cut the fuel price by 4 kroner, and that the social gain is greater by cutting the electricity price than the fuel price.
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Half of Europe lowers the pump price, but not Norway – news Vestland
