Hungarian filling stations running out of price-capped fuel

MARTONVASAR, Hungary (AP) — Drivers in Hungary are increasingly running into gas 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.

At hundreds of fuel stations across Hungary, a confusing mosaic of paper signs hang from the pumps to let customers know what is available — or not — and at what price and quantity.

A sign at one station in Martonvasar, a town 20 miles southwest of Budapest, Hungary's capital, informs motorists they may only purchase two liters (a 1/2 gallon) of fuel at a reduced price set by the government more than a year ago. The quantity limit, the station's owner said, is the result of state energy company MOL failing to make any fuel deliveries to his business and many others like it for the past three weeks.

“They reduced the supply to exactly zero, so fuel with a regulated price completely disappeared from the market for these stations,” said Laszlo Gepesz, who owns the small station and is co-chair of Hungary's Association of Independent Filling Stations.

The cap on fuel prices that Hungary’s populist government imposed in November 2021 set the maximum price for gasoline and diesel at 480 forints ($1.22) per liter.

As market prices kept rising, especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, Hungary's fuel imports plummeted; 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.

MOL says its refinery in the central Hungary town of Szazhalombatta is only operating at around 50% capacity due to technical...