Márton Nagy held talks with representatives of the Hungarian Petroleum Association, including MOL.Continue reading
“We have agreed with the Hungarian Petroleum Association that fuel prices should be in the middle of the regional average, and the government is constantly monitoring this. If this agreement is not respected, we will have to intervene in the fuel prices,” the Minister for National Economy said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Márton Nagy was asked by Index about the government’s intentions as Hungarian fuel prices have risen sharply since the beginning of January. The price of petrol has risen by HUF 77 (EUR 0.19) per liter and diesel by HUF 68 (EUR o.17 / 1 EUR =397 HUF), of which HUF 41 is due to the mandatory excise tax increase in January. The increase of around HUF 70 per liter means that an average 50-liter tank of petrol now costs between HUF 3,500 and 4,000 more than in December last year.
The Minister said that
the government was constantly monitoring fuel prices, and if it saw that the agreement was being “broken” because prices were not in the middle of the regional average, it would intervene.
For the time being, however, there is no reason to talk about it, he added.
In September last year, in his capacity as Minister of Economic Development, Nagy met with executives of Hungarian oil company MOL and representatives of the Hungarian Petroleum Association and agreed to request monthly reports on international and domestic price developments, Világgazdaság reported at the time.
At this meeting, he asked them to ensure that domestic fuel prices are at least in the middle of the regional average.
Based on data from price monitoring portal Holtankoljak.hu, this is still the case despite the increase in excise duty. While a liter of 95-octane petrol currently costs HUF 619 in Hungary, it is more expensive in Austria (HUF 635 / EUR 1.596) and Slovakia (HUF 646 / EUR 1.623) and cheaper in the Czech Republic (HUF 601 / EUR 1.518), Croatia (HUF 617 / EUR 1.55) and Romania (HUF 568 / EUR 1.429).
The Hungarian price for diesel is also in the middle range at HUF 641 (EUR 1.61). Diesel prices are HUF 655 / EUR 1.647 per liter in Croatia, HUF 668 / EUR 1.679 in Austria, HUF 632 / EUR 1.59 in Slovakia, and HUF 609 / EUR 1.53 in the Czech Republic. The most expensive neighboring country is Serbia, where diesel costs HUF 685 / EUR 1.723 per liter.
Via Index, Világgazdaság, Ungarn Heute; Featured image: Facebook/MOL