Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, has confirmed that Hungary's gas and electricity supplies are secure.
Gulyás said suppliers are able to meet all household and market demand, while talks concerning further purchases are underway, aimed at increasing strategic reserves. He noted, however, that “energy prices have increased considerably due to the war and [EU] sanctions”, and the government would maintain its price control for households up to the average consumption levels. Gulyás said the definition of average consumption would be included in a government decree because the thermal values of gas from Russia, from the West and from domestic production were different. Average consumption was now defined at 63,645 megajoules, “well above the figure in the earlier decree”, the minister added. In response to a question, Gulyás said no other European country was helping consumers like Hungary, up to an average consumption of gas and electricity. Hungarians pay gas bills of 17,000 forints (EUR 42) instead of the market price of 180,000 forints and state subsidies on electricity are also considerable, reaching a monthly 200,000 forints per household, he added.
Photo credit: MTI