The government Viktor Orban has decided to ban the export of fuel and gas and has lifted the long-standing price cap on utility services for households with higher consumption.
The measures introduced by Orban also include a plan to increase domestic gas production to 2 billion cubic meters from the current 1.5 billion, with the decision taking effect in August to ensure a continuous energy supply during winter, said Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas.
The dire situation facing all of Europe has also increased pressure on the nationalist Orban, who is facing the toughest challenge since taking power in 2010. Inflation is at its highest level in two decades, and the forint is at a record low.
– It is time for the government to declare a state of emergency in energy – Gulyas said at a press conference following a meeting of Orban’s ministers where they discussed energy supply issues in Europe.
According to a 15-year contract with the Russian energy giant Gazprom signed last year, Hungary receives 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually via Bulgaria and Serbia, and an additional 1 billion cubic meters of gas through a pipeline from Austria. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto previously stated that Budapest is negotiating to purchase more gas before the heating season, in addition to the existing long-term contract with Russia, which supplies 85 percent of the country’s gas needs.
Szijjarto added that Hungarian storage facilities, which have a capacity of 6.33 billion cubic meters of gas, are filled to 44 percent, representing about a quarter of annual consumption. However, data from the Hungarian regulator MEKH shows that the 2.74 billion cubic meters of gas stored by mid-July was far the lowest amount in the last four years, and significantly below 4.5 billion cubic meters stored last year and 5.4 billion cubic meters the year before.
