In reaction, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said the government does not plan any compensation, because "we do not want to help the gas stations with taxpayers' money".Continue reading
“After Friday’s renewed fuel price increases, there will be no more gas stations in Hungary whose purchase prices are lower than the sale price, or who do not lose a single forint due to the price cap,” Ottó Grád, Secretary-General of the Hungarian Petroleum Association (MÁSZ), assessed the situation created by the price cap. Recently, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office said: the state has the possibility to appoint a service provider to operate the mandatory service in case the smaller gas stations would have to close, this will be the Hungarian company MOL.
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
MOL’s wholesale price already exceeded the retail price on Thursday, 24.hu learned from the managing director of Envi gas stations, economist Gábor Egri. On Thursday, the oil company sold gas oil for 493 forints gross and 95 gasoline for 480.4 forints to gas stations, while the government has decided that it cannot sell the two fuels for less than 480 forints. According to data from the specialized portal Holtankoljak.hu, as of today, Friday, the purchase prices of gasoline and diesel have increased by an average of 8 and 5 forints respectively, ie. gas stations make more than an 8 forints loss when they sell a liter of gasoline and an 18 forints loss when they sell a liter of gas oil. This results from the fact that the purchase price is higher than the capped consumer price.
The owners are constantly calculating and checking how they could reduce their costs, and depending on that they decide how long they can stay open for, this has already been said by Eszter Bujdos, managing director of Holtankoljak.hu, who thinks that the situation could get worse.
All gas stations are affected by the price cap, all suffer from it, and every day more and more stores can be closed when they see that they cannot cope with further losses. According to market information, the number could even reach more than a hundred in the coming days and weeks.
The freeze of fuel prices is causing gas stations to lose so much money that some retailers are reportedly pleading with motorists not to fill up at their stations or they will go bankrupt.
Recently, a gas station in Tolna County posted on their Facebook page that people should not fill up at their location until the price freeze is lifted, in order not to have to close, Portfolio recently reported. A table was also put up, according to which they currently buy gasoline 95 for 482 forints and a liter of diesel for 492 forints, so they have to face significant losses at the official price.
As the gas station writes:
We thank the Hungarian government, while they move forward, we move backwards.”
The Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office also reacted recently to the possible closures and special measures of gas stations (About a hundred gas stations across the country already limit the amount of fuel they sell). “There is news about the closure of gas stations, but we are not aware of any place where there is no gas station within a radius of 5 kilometers,” said Gulyás, adding that the state has the possibility to appoint a service provider to operate the mandatory service, this will be the Hungarian company MOL.
Featured image via Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI