Hungarians drive across the border to fill up on fuel as prices soar

Record ID: 1707977

  • Title: Hungarians drive across the border to fill up on fuel as prices soar
  • Date: 24th January 2023
  • Summary: ESZTERGOM, HUNGARY (RECENT - JANUARY 21, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC ACROSS BORDER BRIDGE BETWEEN HUNGARY AND SLOVAKIA VARIOUS VIEWS FROM CAR OF CROSSING BRIDGE STUROVO, SLOVAKIA (RECENT - JANUARY 21, 2023) (REUTERS) FUEL PRICES SIGN AT PETROL STATION CAR DRIVING INTO PETROL STATION CAR DRIVING, HUNGARIAN CARS AT FILLING STATIONS HUNGARIAN DRIVER, TIBOR TOTH, FILLIN
  • Embargoed: 7th February 2023 11:59
  • Keywords: Hungarian economy cross-border commerce fuel prices
  • Location: ESZTERGOM, BUDAPEST AND KUBEKHAZA, HUNGARY / STUROVO, SLOVAKIA / HUNGARIAN-ROMANIAN BORDER / NEAR CENAD, ROMANIA
  • City: ESZTERGOM, BUDAPEST AND KUBEKHAZA, HUNGARY / STUROVO, SLOVAKIA / HUNGARIAN-ROMANIAN BORDER / NEAR CENAD, ROMANIA
  • Country: Hungary
  • Topics: Commodities Markets,Europe,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA001468724012023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Petrol prices in Hungary have jumped since the government scrapped a fuel price cap in December and raised taxes on fuel, prompting many drivers to fill up on cheaper fuel in neighbouring countries such as Slovakia or Romania.
    Across the Danube river in Sturovo, Slovakia, diesel cost 1.619 euros ($1.76) per litre on Saturday (January 21) at a local filling station versus 690 forints ($1.90) at a MOL station in the Hungarian city of Esztergom. The price difference was smaller on petrol.
    "We travelled around in Slovakia during the holidays and when we filled our tank we saw how much cheaper it was here," said Tibor Toth, who drove across the bridge that connects Esztergom and Sturovo to fill his tank.
    "We only have to cross the bridge and we are here, so obviously we will come over more often for this."
    Re-elected for a fourth straight term in April 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is facing his toughest economic challenge to date, with inflation running above 24% and the economy headed for stagnation this year.
    His government was forced to abandon a year-long cap on retail fuel prices for households amid a severe shortage in early December.
    At the same time the government raised the excise tax on fuel and placed additional taxes on oil and gas firm MOL's profits made on Russian crude.
    Hungarian fuel prices were higher than elsewhere in the region partly due to the higher taxes but also because the price cap distorted the free market for fuel, cutting competition, said Tamas Pletser, regional oil analyst at Erste Investment.
    Firms stopped importing fuel due to low prices last year, aggravating the shortage, while a lot of smaller petrol stations were forced to close due to mounting losses.
    The government did not reply to emailed questions from Reuters and Reuters could not independently assess the scale of cross-border petrol purchases.
    At the other end of the country, drivers are also crossing the border to fellow EU member Romania to fill up at petrol stations there.
    Robert Molnar, the mayor of the town of Kubekhaza near the border, said the town could saved hundreds of thousands of forints annually by filling their vehicles in Romania rather than in Hungary.
    (Production: Krisztina Fenyo, Lewis Macdonald)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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