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VKG will resume operations at two Kiviter refineries that had been idle since the beginning of the year owing to record low oil prices. Approximately 350 workers will be invited to rejoin the team of the group, the company reports.

"The relaunch of the conserved plants is a thoroughly weighed decision that rests on the group's financial calculations and government-proposed actual steps to create a flexible taxation system that takes into account the changeable global oil price," CEO Ahti Asmann said. 

"We hope that the constructive dialogue between companies in the sector and the government will continue and that it will result in a new, working tax system that supports the competitiveness of Estonian shale oil on the world market and ensures long-term tax revenue," he added.

The continued gradual improvement of global fuel market conditions also gives cause for modest optimism in planning business activities, Asmann pointed out. Resumption of operations will have a positive impact on the group's workforce which will increase by around 350 jobs. "We're offering work first of all to our former workers and preliminary agreements with many of them are already in place by now," he remarked.

Preparations for the relaunch and thorough checks of all systems are already underway. VKG hopes the plants will be running at full capacity by the beginning of September.

The government approved at the end of June a decree of the environment minister to lower retroactively fees for oil shale and peat mining rights so as to ease the crisis caused by low oil prices in the oil shale sector.