Up to 500 service stations are liable to be closed

A large part of the country's sparsely populated stations must make major investments to meet new environmental requirements. Many people can't make it, but Gulf in Harad's four miles from Boden managed it, thanks to support from the Rural Program. But it was forced to try dozens of times with different lenders before it was finally a local bank lined up with the support of the municipality's politicians.

It is difficult to get profitability in a smaller gas station, but the main reason for the banks' doubts is that many older stations have an unfunded environmental debt. By law, the operator must decontaminate the environment in the event of a closure and this makes it difficult to get loans for investments and to find someone who wants to take over the business.

When a sparsely populated station is closed, it is not just the possibility of refueling that disappears. Often it is also a grocery store, postal agent and pharmacy. This makes it important not only for housing but also for businesses.

Several sparsely populated stations are operated overtime. Sales of traditional fuels have yielded such large profits that they have kept them under their arms. That and the stricter environmental requirements mean that cisterns and pipelines need to be coated or otherwise insulated, an investment of around SEK 2 million. Many small stations are very difficult to finance. But it can go, as Gulf of Harads has shown.