Hungary’s recently capped petrol and diesel prices are so low, that smaller pump stations in the country are struggling to stay in business.Continue reading
On Thursday, the government announced that cars with foreign license plates will no longer be allowed to buy fuel at government capped prices at Hungarian gas stations from Friday. Following the announcement, motorists stormed gas stations, especially in western Hungary to take advantage of the European Union’s cheapest gas stations one last time. Starting today, they will have to pay significantly more for fuel.
In the past months, petrol tourism has been booming in Hungary. People en masse crossed the border from neighboring countries to buy fuel at a much lower price than available in other EU countries.
Those who came here to refuel could often save tens of euros on a single fill-up. This, however, quickly changed today.
According to holtankoljak.hu, the purchase price of petrol decreased by gross 8 forints (0,02 euro) from Friday, while the wholesale price of diesel remained unchanged.
Since it was previously possible to fill up at an officially capped price throughout Hungary, retail prices did not really matter. However, the government has decided that foreign cars will only be allowed to fill up at Hungarian gas pumps at market prices from Friday.
In the towns along the Hungarian border, foreign vehicles swarmed the petrol stations, with press reports about long queues of cars in many places, waiting to get one last cheap tank of petrol.
You will find the following average prices at gas stations today:
– 95 gasoline: 661 Ft/liter (EUR 1,68/L)
– Gas oil: 679 Ft/liter (EUR 1,73/L)
The decree also states that vehicles with foreign license plates coming from a country where the price of gasoline is also capped can continue to fill up at the official capped price.
Featured image: illustration via Pixabay