The Hungarian government will launch a “coal program” in the coming days, and raise the limit of open-cast mining from 50,000 tons to 280,000 tons.
Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister's Office, said the government will have pre-emption rights on the lignite produced. Also, small and medium-sized companies with high energy needs will receive support to foot their gas and electricity bills, he said. The government will develop a support scheme to ensure that supply lines remain intact, albeit with shrinking profits, to avoid mass unemployment that would result from interruptions to supply lines, he said. The price of district heating will be kept level, and the government will launch a programme to provide all flats on the grid with individual meters, he said. The latter will involve some 140,000 apartments and take 4-5 years, he said.
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