Greece plans to subsidise heating oil from 15 to 31 October 2026, with no application; the amount and this winter's heating allowance are still undecided

An amendment tabled in the Greek Parliament on 7 October 2026 would subsidise heating oil released onto the domestic market from 15 to 31 October 2026.¹³ Households would not apply for the heating-oil subsidy: the money would go to refineries and fuel traders, who are meant to pass all of it on to consumers.¹²⁴ The amount of the subsidy per litre has not yet been set.¹ The separate heating allowance for winter 2026–27 has been promised but not yet decided.²⁰²¹

What has Parliament been asked to approve?

On 7 October 2026 three ministers tabled an amendment in the Βουλή (Vouli), the Greek Parliament: Kyriakos Pierrakakis (National Economy and Finance), Stavros Papastavrou (Environment and Energy) and Takis Theodorikakos (Development).²⁵ Their ministries are the Υπουργείο Εθνικής Οικονομίας και Οικονομικών (Ypourgeio Ethnikis Oikonomias kai Oikonomikon), the Υπουργείο Περιβάλλοντος και Ενέργειας (Ypourgeio Perivallontos kai Energeias) and the Υπουργείο Ανάπτυξης (Ypourgeio Anaptyxis).² The amendment is attached to a bill from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, the Υπουργείο Ναυτιλίας και Νησιωτικής Πολιτικής (Ypourgeio Naftilias kai Nisiotikis Politikis), on the running of Greece's port authorities.²⁵

The heating-oil amendment amends the law behind the diesel pump subsidy.¹ That law is an emergency act of 25 March 2026, a Πράξη Νομοθετικού Περιεχομένου (Praxi Nomothetikou Periechomenou, Act of Legislative Content), which Parliament ratified as law 5292/2026.¹⁹ The act's subsidy article is renamed so that it covers heating oil as well as diesel.¹ The explanatory report says the measure responds to a sharp rise in oil prices and aims to cushion its effect on vulnerable households and small and medium-sized businesses.¹

Has the amendment been passed?

Parliament's Committee on Production and Trade approved the ports bill in principle on 5 October 2026.⁶ The bill and the heating-oil amendment then went to the plenary on Thursday 8 October 2026, and ERT and enikonomia reported that a vote was expected that day.⁵⁷ Parliament's list of passed bills shows the ports bill was passed on 8 October 2026 and is awaiting publication in the ΦΕΚ (Fyllo Efimeridas tis Kyverniseos), the Government Gazette.²³ In the text passed, the heating-oil subsidy is article 19: it covers heating oil released onto the domestic market from 15 to 31 October 2026, and leaves the amount to a joint ministerial decision.²³ During the debate on 8 October 2026, opposition parties called for a cap on refinery profits.¹²¹³

How would the heating-oil subsidy work?

The amendment would have the state budget subsidise heating oil released onto the domestic market from 15 to 31 October 2026 inclusive.¹³ The subsidy would be calculated once, on the value of the sales invoices before VAT, for the litres released.¹³ It would be paid to refineries, to Category A licensed fuel-trading companies that import heating oil, and to licensed heating-oil sellers that import.¹² According to Insider, these businesses act as intermediaries and keep no financial advantage from the subsidy; the stated aim is for the whole benefit to pass to final consumers.⁴² Insider reports that the amount is not meant to stay with the refinery or the trader, but to pass down the supply chain so that all of it reaches the price the consumer finally pays.⁴

The amendment does not set an amount per litre.¹ A κοινή υπουργική απόφαση (koini ypourgiki apofasi, a joint ministerial decision, or ΚΥΑ) of the three ministers will set the amount, along with the payment procedure and technical details.¹³ Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Markopoulos told Parliament on 8 October 2026 that the heating-oil price, including the subsidy, would be announced on 14 October 2026.¹²¹³

The amendment would subsidise heating oil released from 15 to 31 October 2026, but leaves the amount per litre to a joint ministerial decision.¹

What price is the government aiming for?

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on 20 September 2026 that a joint intervention by the government and the refineries would aim for a starting price below €1.75 a litre for heating oil.¹⁴¹⁵ Mitsotakis repeated that target at the cabinet meeting of 30 September 2026, saying the heating-oil price should be kept below €1.75 a litre.¹⁶¹⁷ At the same meeting he announced that the diesel pump subsidy would rise from 10 to 15 cents a litre for 1 to 15 October 2026.¹⁶¹⁷ The €1.75 figure is a stated aim: the amendment sets no price and no amount.¹

Could the subsidy last beyond 31 October 2026?

The heating-oil subsidy could be extended: under Article 5(5) of the March 2026 act, which the amendment extends to heating oil, the Minister of National Economy and Finance can change both the period and the amount of the subsidy by his own decision.¹⁹ That power was used on 31 August 2026, in a decision signed by Pierrakakis and Deputy Minister Athanasios Petralias, to extend the diesel pump subsidy to 30 September 2026.²² As tabled, the heating-oil subsidy runs only to 31 October 2026.¹

What about the heating allowance?

The heating allowance (επίδομα θέρμανσης, epidoma thermansis) is a separate, means-tested payment to households, claimed through ΑΑΔΕ (Ανεξάρτητη Αρχή Δημοσίων Εσόδων, Anexartiti Archi Dimosion Esodon), the tax authority.¹⁰¹⁸ We found no allowance decision for winter 2026–27 by 9 October 2026, and the size of the increase has not been announced.²⁰²¹ On 21 September 2026 Pierrakakis said on SKAI television that the criteria and the number of beneficiaries would not change, and that only the amount would rise.²⁰²¹ On 20 September 2026 Mitsotakis described the increase as horizontal, covering households that heat with oil and those that use other energy sources.¹⁴¹⁵

Who qualified for the heating allowance last winter?

Because the minister says the criteria will stay the same, last winter's rules are the best guide available.²⁰ They were set by joint decision Α.1151/2025, published in the ΦΕΚ on 31 October 2025.¹⁰¹¹

• Income: total family income of up to €16,000 for a single person or €24,000 for a married couple or civil partners, plus €5,000 per child; for single-parent families, €29,000 plus €5,000 for each child after the first.¹⁰¹¹
• Property: total value of up to €200,000 for a single person, or €260,000 for a married couple or single-parent family, plus €40,000 per dependent child, using 2025 values for ΕΝΦΙΑ, the annual property tax.¹⁰¹¹
• Excluded, among others: dependants, people declared as hosted by someone else, people liable to the luxury-living tax, owners of more than two private cars, and tax residents abroad who must file a Greek tax return, together with their spouses.¹⁰

Under last winter's rules, people who are tax-resident in another country and must file a Greek tax return, and their spouses, could not claim the heating allowance.¹⁰

How much was the allowance, and how was it paid?

For heating oil, last winter's reference amount was €300, raised by 20% for each dependent child and adjusted by a climate coefficient for each settlement.¹⁰¹¹ The allowance could be no less than €100 per household.¹⁰ Its ceiling was €800, but the allowance rose by 25% (to a ceiling of €1,000) where the settlement's climate coefficient was 1 or more, and by a further 25% (to a ceiling of €1,200) where it was 1.2 or more.¹⁰¹¹ Each beneficiary could claim for one fuel only.¹⁰¹⁸ To receive the full allowance, a beneficiary had to buy fuel worth at least twice that amount; someone who bought less received half the value of their purchases.¹⁰¹⁸ Heating-oil purchases counted from 15 October 2025 to 31 March 2026.¹⁰¹⁸

Claims for winter 2025–26 were made through the myΘέρμανση (myThermansi) service on myAADE, ΑΑΔΕ's online portal, by 5 December 2025, after declaring an IBAN.¹⁸¹¹ For heating oil, the oil distributor sent the receipts to ΑΑΔΕ.¹⁸ An advance was paid by 23 December 2025: returning beneficiaries received 60% of the allowance they had been paid the previous winter, and new beneficiaries 50%, with a minimum advance of €80; the balance was due by 29 May 2026.¹⁰¹⁸ Official figures, as reported by Taxheaven, show about €92.9 million paid to 858,172 heating-oil beneficiaries in that advance.¹⁹ The allowance cannot be seized, withheld or set against debts.¹⁰

What should I do now?

• Wait for 14 October 2026. That is the date the deputy finance minister gave for announcing the heating-oil price, including the subsidy.¹²¹³
• Keep every heating-oil receipt, with your ΑΦΜ (AFM), your Greek tax number, on it. Last winter the oil distributor sent heating-oil receipts to ΑΑΔΕ, and the full allowance was paid only on purchases worth at least twice the allowance; below that, claimants received half of what they spent.¹⁸¹⁰
• Remember the dates. The October subsidy covers oil released onto the market from 15 October 2026, and last winter's allowance counted heating-oil purchases from 15 October 2025.¹¹⁰ No 2026–27 allowance decision, which would set this winter's purchase window, has been published.²⁰²¹
• Check that your IBAN is declared on myAADE. Last winter, claimants had to declare an IBAN before applying.¹⁸