Budget proposals for next year foresee excise duty on fuel increasing by an average of five percent.
The refineries are worried about the effect this will have on their results. More to the point is the damage this could do the economy as a whole as almost every product is effected by increases in the cost of transport.
Of course changes in the world price of oil would potentially be more damaging to the economy as a whole.
The treasury hopes to raise PLN14.2bn in this way next year. So far it has been out with its predictions. It hopes to raise almost PLN16bn from fuel duty this year. In the first three quarters it took only PLN9.8bn.
The price of petrol at the pumps is already approaching that of the European Union average and this new excise rate hike could bring it to a par.