Natural gas activity licences in Estonia

Importing natural gas, running a gas transmission or distribution network, storing gas for others and operating an LNG terminal are licensed activities in Estonia under the Natural Gas Act²⁰. The licence is issued by the Estonian Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet)¹⁴ and shows in the Register of Economic Activities¹⁸. To sell gas, an undertaking files a notice of economic activities¹⁶.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

The Natural Gas Act (maagaasiseadus) governs the import, transmission, distribution and sale of natural gas through the gas network, connection to the network and the payment of the reserve fee¹. Its rules on gas also apply to biomethane, gas from biomass and other gases that meet the gas quality requirements and can be fed into the network technically and safely². A "gas undertaking" is an undertaking active in at least one of these fields: production, import, transmission, distribution, storage or sale of gas³.

The act defines the activities as follows:

• Import of gas is the release of gas for free circulation under the Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013)⁴.
• Transmission is the transport of gas through the transmission network, which is the system of pipelines with a working pressure above 16 bar, including the connections with other EU or third-country networks⁵⁶.
• Distribution is the transport of gas through regional or distribution pipelines to consumer installations or agreed connection points; a distribution network operator provides network service in a network below 16 bar⁷⁸.
• Storage: a gas storage facility is a facility used to store gas, including the part of an LNG terminal used for storage; the storage system operator performs the storage task and is responsible for the proper use of the facility⁹.
• LNG terminal: a facility used for liquefaction or import, unloading and regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with its ancillary services; gas storage facilities are not part of it¹⁰.
• Sale of gas is the transfer of gas to a person for a fee¹¹.

A separate page covers selling electricity and gas.

The legal act and the authority

• Act: Natural Gas Act (maagaasiseadus, MGS), redaction in force from 1 October 2026¹².
• General licensing rules: General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus, MSÜS)¹³.
• Competent authority: the Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) decides licence applications and supervises compliance with the act¹⁴¹⁵. A notice for the sale of gas is also filed with the Competition Authority¹⁶.
• Register: the Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR), whose controller is the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA)¹⁷. It records each licence with the issuing authority, date, number, legal basis and secondary conditions, free to view online¹⁸¹⁹.

Who must apply

An undertaking must hold an activity licence for each of these fields²⁰:

1. gas transmission service;
2. gas distribution service;
3. import of gas;
4. operating an LNG terminal;
5. gas storage service.

To act as a gas seller, an undertaking must submit a notice of economic activities to the Competition Authority¹⁶.

Exemption named by the act: no licence is needed by a person who sells gas only to its members, lessees or tenants, if that sale is not its main activity and takes place within one immovable property or one building that is movable property and the land needed to serve it²¹.

The act also limits who may combine activities. A transmission network operator may also distribute gas but may not at the same time be a seller, except in one case the act names²². The transmission licence is granted to only one network operator, and only to a person who owns the transmission network, owns or manages the metering systems at the state border, meets the ownership-separation and third-country rules and fulfils the general licence conditions²³²⁴.

Requirements for the applicant

The Natural Gas Act grants the licence if the applicant²⁵:

• has the technical means and staff with the necessary skills to operate properly in the field applied for;
• has the economic and organisational prerequisites and conditions for the activity.

Minimum share capital set by the act²⁵:

Whether a share capital requirement applies to import is specified for the client's situation.

Management and separation rules:

• Transmission: a person with dominant influence over the transmission operator may not have dominant influence over, or exercise other rights in, an undertaking producing or selling gas or electricity, and a member of the operator's supervisory or management board may not sit on the board of a gas producer or seller²⁶. The Competition Authority assesses compliance (certification), prepares a draft decision within four months and sends it to the European Commission without delay, and decides within two months of the Commission's opinion or, if none arrives, four months after requesting it²⁷. Where the applicant is controlled from a third country, it must show that its activity does not endanger the security of gas supply of Estonia or the EU²⁸. A person wishing to acquire the transmission network must first apply to the Ministry of the Interior for an internal security assessment²⁹.
• Distribution: where more than 100,000 consumers are connected, the management of the distribution operator must be separate from that of related gas undertakings³⁰. A distribution operator must have the resources needed to maintain and develop the network and must draw up and implement a plan for equal treatment of other undertakings and consumers, file it with the Competition Authority and publish it³¹.
• Storage: the person responsible for the storage system may not at the same time be a board member of, or responsible for the day-to-day business of, another gas undertaking, and the operator must have its own resources and an equal-treatment plan³².

Whether a seat requirement, an AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing) programme or IT and outsourcing rules apply to the client's business is specified for the client's case.

Documents filed with the application

General data under the Economic Activities Code (MSÜS § 19 and § 15)³³:

• name and registry code of the undertaking (or, for a company being founded, its founding document) and contact details;
• the field of activity by its statutory name and its EMTAK classification code;
• the name and contact details of the signatory and the basis of the right of representation;
• where relevant, data on persons, qualifications, certificates or insurance that the licence requirements cover.

Additional data under the Natural Gas Act § 28(2)³⁴:

• the area of operation applied for, except for sale and import;
• a location plan and description of the networks in the area of operation, except for import.

The authority may ask for further data needed to check the requirements and must give a reasonable deadline for them³⁵.

State fee and processing time

State fees under the State Fees Act (riigilõivuseadus) § 136⁴, per year of validity of the licence³⁶:

• import of gas: EUR 640;
• gas transmission service: EUR 260;
• gas distribution service: EUR 260.

A request to change the licence conditions costs 50% of the rate³⁶. The fee for storage or LNG terminal licences is specified for the client's case.

Time limits:

• General rule: the authority decides within 30 days of the application; the period runs from the submission of all required data. The authority may suspend the period for up to 30 days while a defect is remedied and may extend it once by up to 30 days in a complex case³⁷.
• The rule that a licence is deemed granted when the deadline passes does not apply where the licence must be issued with secondary conditions³⁸; the Natural Gas Act lists secondary conditions that are attached to gas licences³⁹.
• Transmission licence: the decision is made within ten months of the certification request and the data proving compliance²⁴.

These are the law's time limits, not a promise; the authority may ask for more information³⁵.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

LexorCorp Global OÜ prepares the activity licence application documentation and manages the process. As the service row on the site states, the work covers the requirements of the act for the activity, taken from its official text, and the submission through the Register of Economic Activities with the written follow-up of the authority's questions. Timing is by agreement.

Price: from €3,500, one-time; no VAT is added. The price is the professional fee for the work described. It is not the price of a licence and does not include state or supervisory fees, regulatory capital or third-party costs, which the client pays.

LexorCorp Global OÜ does not give legal advice, carry out audits or give tax advice, and does not promise a licence, a date or any decision of the Competition Authority; the authorisation is granted by the authority.

Order: order form

Sources

1. MGS § 1(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
2. MGS § 1(1¹) — text in force from 01.10.2026
3. MGS § 4 — text in force from 01.10.2026
4. MGS § 7(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
5. MGS § 7(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026
6. MGS § 2 p 16 — text in force from 01.10.2026
7. MGS § 7(3) — text in force from 01.10.2026
8. MGS § 2 p 21 — text in force from 01.10.2026
9. MGS § 2 p 15 and p 17 — text in force from 01.10.2026
10. MGS § 2 p 13 — text in force from 01.10.2026
11. MGS § 7(4) — text in force from 01.10.2026
12. Riigi Teataja header of MGS — text in force from 01.10.2026
13. MSÜS § 16, § 19, § 20 — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
14. MGS § 28(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
15. MGS § 37(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
16. MGS § 26¹⁰ — text in force from 01.10.2026
17. MSÜS § 8(1),(4); MTR site — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
18. MSÜS § 53(1) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
19. MSÜS § 51(2) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
20. MGS § 27(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
21. MGS § 27(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026
22. MGS § 8¹(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
23. MGS § 30¹(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
24. MGS § 30¹(2),(3) — text in force from 01.10.2026
25. MGS § 29 — text in force from 01.10.2026
26. MGS § 29¹(1),(4) — text in force from 01.10.2026
27. MGS § 29³(5),(6) — text in force from 01.10.2026
28. MGS § 29⁴(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026
29. MGS § 29²(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
30. MGS § 29⁵(1) — text in force from 01.10.2026
31. MGS § 29⁵(4),(5) — text in force from 01.10.2026
32. MGS § 29⁶(1),(3),(4) — text in force from 01.10.2026
33. MSÜS § 19(2),(4) with § 15(1) p 1–4, 7 and § 15(2)–(5) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
34. MGS § 28(2) — text in force from 01.10.2026
35. MSÜS § 19(6) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
36. RLS § 136⁴ — text in force from 01.11.2026 (valid until 31.12.2026)
37. MSÜS § 20(1)–(3) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
38. MSÜS § 20(4) — text in force from 01.09.2025 (valid until 31.12.2026)
39. MGS § 32 — text in force from 01.10.2026

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

• Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 — EUR-Lex
• State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.