Hungarian Government Scraps Capped Fuel Prices

Following long lines at Hungarian gas stations due to the shortage of supply of capped priced fuel in the past few days, the Hungarian government announced late Tuesday evening that the capped prices introduced in November 2021 are scrapped as 23.00 hours local time.

The Hungarian oil and gas company Mol, the only company supplying Hungarian gas stations since the introduction of the capped prices as the articificially subdued prices would result in financial loss for foreign companies, informed the government that it cannot supply the country with fuel any more. Thus, the government would immediately scrap the HUF 480 per liter price, the Minister heading the Prime Minister's Office, Gergely Gulyás announced at an extraordinary press briefing Tuesday evening.

Mol CEO Zsolt Hernádi said at the press briefing that the last few days have seen an unprecedented crisis in the country, such queues in front of wells were last seen in this country in the 1970s and 1980s. In the past few days, there have been panic attacks, empty petrol stations, in a word: chaos, he said. There was no petrol at the pumps, there was a total drain at many gas stations - press reports suggested that every fourth station was out of fuel.