Drivers in Hungary Experience Increasing Fuel Shortages
5 December 2022 01:10
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Drivers in Hungary are increasingly running into petrol and diesel shortages at filling stations as a government-imposed price cap squeezes the operators of independent stations and leaves the state energy company struggling to keep up with demand.
The cap on fuel prices Hungary's populist government imposed in November 2021 set the maximum price for gasoline and diesel at one dollar and 22 cents per liter.
As market prices kept rising especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, Hungary's fuel imports plummeted and foreign suppliers found the country a less attractive place to sell given the mandated discount prices.
That left only the state energy company, to produce diesel and gas for selling at the reduced rate but it has strained to supply the cheaper fuel for the entire country.
Hungary is highly dependent on Russian oil and gas. And its government has campaigned vigorously against European union sanctions against Moscow especially those that would affect the import of fossil fuel products, blamed them for rising energy prices and soaring inflation.
