According to the Liquid Fuel Act, the fuel seller is obliged to ensure that at least 7.5% of the fossil fuel sold to the consumer during the year is fuel based on renewable energy, i.e. biofuel. In the summer of 2022, the Environmental Board determined that Olerex is unlikely to be able to successfully fulfill this requirement within the calendar year. The Environmental Board repeatedly informed the company about this. Despite this, as of December 20, 2022, Olerex had only nearly 1% of the biofuel requirement.
On December 30, 2022, a tanker arrived in Estonia, and the Tax and Customs Board took a sample of the Olerex fuel it was carrying. Based on the sample, it was established that it is normal winter diesel fuel. Two weeks later, Olerex submitted data to the Tax and Customs Board that HVO, a biofuel based on renewable raw material, was delivered by tanker, which would have ensured that Olerex's biofuel requirement was met to the extent of 7.51%.
Gerd Raudsepp, the prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutor's Office, said that the collected evidence indicates that Olerex has provided false information, but the precise circumstances of the act need to be clarified in the criminal proceedings. "We have reason to believe that Olerex wanted to show that they have fulfilled the biofuel requirement with the fuel that arrived on the penultimate day of the year, but based on the evidence we have gathered, we suspect that this has been misrepresented. If it turns out to be true, it is a crime. Since the company had been repeatedly warned, Olerex was aware that a fine of up to 10 million euros could await them if they did not comply with the requirement. The motive for providing false information could therefore have been to avoid a possible fine, but we will check this in the criminal proceedings," said Raudsepp.
"Possible environmental crimes deserve serious attention because they damage the common good belongign to all of us: the environment. That's why every such suspicion must be thoroughly checked," said Rainer Vakra, director general of the Estonian Environmental Board. "The goal of the biofuel requirement is no less and no more than mitigating climate change. It is the big companies, those who earn from the sale of fossil fuels, who owe society a contribution to the implementation of more environmentally friendly solutions. Ignoring this obligation would come at the expense of the quality of life for all of us in the future and would be unfair to competitors, consumers and society as a whole," emphasized Vakra.
Leho Laur, head of the corruption crimes office of the Central Criminal Police, explained that it is important for the police to ensure a fair economic environment and equal conditions for all market participants. "If there is a possibility that someone has gained an unfair advantage over their competitors, it is our duty to verify such suspicions. Other market participants directly lose the competitive advantage gained by unfair practices, but eventually the effects reach consumers as well, if honest traders have to leave the market as a result. In this case - since the biofuel requirement has been established by the European Union - such a violation could also lead to sanctions, the costs of which would be passed on to all taxpayers at the end of the day," said Laur.
Criminal proceedings are carried out by the Central Criminal Police and the Environmental Board under the leadership of the South District Prosecutor's Office.
