Slovenia enacts fuel relief law with diesel subsidies and tyre grants

Slovenia has enacted a temporary law granting fuel-price relief to road hauliers, bus operators, farmers, forest owners, fishers and beekeepers, published in the Uradni list Republike Slovenije št. 1457/2026 of 19 September 2026 as document 2026-01-2117. The Zakon o začasnih ukrepih za zaščito prehranske in prometne oskrbe pred draginjo goriv (ZZUPPODG) was adopted by the Državni zbor Republike Slovenije on 11 September 2026 under EVA 2026-2440-0016 and EPA 240-X, and promulgated by decree no. 003-02-1/2026-187 signed by President Nataša Pirc Musar. It enters into force the day after publication, but the diesel-aid chapter applies only after the Evropska komisija declares the scheme compatible with the internal market.

The law is designed to cushion the effects of rising energy prices and to improve energy efficiency, and it derogates from the Road Transport Act (ZPCP-2) and the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources Act (ZSROVE-1). Payments are handled by the center za podpore under a public mandate, with separate accounting for each measure and a contract with the competent ministry. The same issue of the official gazette carries the Zakon o spremembah in dopolnitvi Zakona o trošarinah (ZTro-1E), which lowers excise ceilings for unleaded petrol and gas oil once a Council implementing decision authorises Slovenia to apply reduced rates.

Diesel aid for road transport

• Eligible beneficiaries are legal persons and sole traders entered in the Business Register of Slovenia for road freight, urban passenger transport or interurban and other road passenger transport, holding a valid national licence or Community licence; own-account carriers under Articles 82 and 85 of ZPCP-2 also qualify.
• Aid covers diesel purchased in Slovenia between 4 June 2026 and 31 December 2026; invoices below 20 euros cannot be claimed.
• The subsidy is capped at 70 % of the additional cost, defined as the positive difference between the reference price and the historical reference price of 0.75731 euro per litre, which corresponds to the reference price on 30 June 2026.
• The amount is calculated as P = QP × max[0; (CR − ZCP) × 0,70], where the recognised quantity is limited by average consumption per vehicle category: 15 litres/100 km for M2 buses, 28 for M3, 12 for N1, 20 for N2, 28 for solo N3 trucks and 30 for N3 tractor-trailers.
• A beneficiary that raises its transport price in the diesel cost element after receiving the aid must repay it in full.

Tyres, farms, forests, fisheries and beekeeping

• The tyre subsidy is 150 euros per tyre, from a total envelope of 5 million euros allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, for energy class A or B tyres of categories C2 and C3 bought and fitted between 1 October 2026 and 31 May 2027 on N2 vehicles above 7.5 tonnes, N3, M3, O3 and O4 vehicles.
• Farm and forestry aid for gas oil (KOEL) equals the difference between the reference price and a threshold price of 0.75 euro per litre, with monthly consumption ceilings of 50.1 litres per hectare of arable land and similar uses, 105 litres per hectare of vineyard, intensive orchard, hop garden or olive grove, 12.51 litres per hectare of forest tree plantation and 7.5 litres per hectare of forest.
• Beekeepers may claim up to 20 litres of KOEL per 100 km travelled with hives; fishers and mariculture operators up to 350 litres per logbook or per day; forest work contractors and agricultural machinery services up to 7 litres per working hour, counting 4 m³ of timber per hour.

Clearance, deadlines and controls

• Aid under the diesel chapter follows the Sporočilo Komisije – Začasni okvir za državno pomoč zaradi krize na Bližnjem vzhodu (UL C št. C/2026/2593 z dne 5. 5. 2026) and cannot be granted or paid before the Commission decision; stricter conditions in that decision prevail, no advance payments are allowed, eligible costs must arise by 31 December 2026 and aid must be granted by 31 March 2027.
• De minimis aid is capped at 300,000 euros per single undertaking over any three-year period under Uredba Komisije (EU) 2023/2831, with a 50,000-euro ceiling where the alternative method is used, and agricultural and beekeeping aid follows Uredba Komisije (EU) št. 1408/2013.
• Applications are filed through a web application; purchases made in December 2026 must be claimed by 1 February 2027, decisions are issued within two months and payment follows within 30 days of the decision becoming final, with appeals to the transport or agriculture ministry.
• Public calls for agriculture and tyres must be published within one month of entry into force, while the diesel call follows within five working days of the Commission decision; individual aid above 100,000 euros is published within six months and beneficiary lists within three months of each call closing.

The law matters because it channels state money directly to hauliers, bus operators and primary producers at a moment of sustained fuel costs, while making every euro conditional on Brussels clearance. Until that decision arrives, the diesel subsidies remain legally dormant, and the tyre and agricultural measures are the only parts that can be rolled out immediately.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije, št. 1457/2026, 19 September 2026, section I (official reference: 2026-01-2117; EVA 2026-2440-0016).