FBSZ said maintaining the operation of the filling stations had become untenable due to the special taxes and supply difficulties.

Under an agreement reached by the Energy Ministry (EM), the National Economy Ministry (NGM) and the association in the week before the elections, independent petrol stations were to maintain their loss-making operation arising from the "unlawful measures" at least until April 12, the day of the election, and the NGM was to provide compensation to reduce their losses according to the method and amount applied during the 2022 price cap, FBSZ told MTI.

However, then outgoing government has not kept its side of the agreement so far, as a result of which the operation of petrol stations is causing serious losses, which is compounded by the extremely high special tax imposed on the motor fuel sector, FBSZ said.

FBSZ asked the outgoing government to keep its promise and resolve this issue, while asking the new government to listen to their arguments and suggestions, and "let us build a fair, functioning and sustainable system together."

The government has capped prices of petrol and diesel at HUF 595 and HUF 615/litre, respectively, to mitigate the impact on markets of the conflict in the Middle East and the shutdown of the Druzhba pipeline through which Hungary gets its Russian crude.

The wholesale price of motor fuels will fall by HUF 6 from HUF 672/litre for petrol and by HUF 14 from HUF 728/litre for diesel from Tuesday, motor fuel price comparison site holtankoljak.hu said, adding that this will further narrow the gap between market prices and those affected by the price caps.

Prime minister-elect Peter Magyar last Thursday said that the new government will maintain motor fuel price caps for both petrol and diesel.

Meanwhile, Serbian energy minister, MOL CEO hold talks on future of NIS

Serbia's energy minister Dubravka Dedovic held talks with Zsolt Hernadi, chairman-CEO of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, on the sale and future of Serbian oil company NIS in Belgrade at the weekend, the minister said on social media.

Serbia's energy minister Dubravka Dedovic held talks with Zsolt Hernadi, chairman-CEO of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, on the sale and future of Serbian oil company NIS in Belgrade at the weekend, the minister said on social media.

Negotiating an agreement on the sale is not easy, and there are "red lines" that Serbia cannot cross, the minister said.

She said the Serbian party's goal is to maintain the operation of NIS's refinery in Pancevo at full capacity. It also urges MOL to take over or replace the commitments undertaken by NIS earlier.

The future management of the company was also discussed at the talks. The talks will continue soon in Belgrade, while MOL is also negotiating with Gazprom Neft and Gazprom.

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extended the the operating licence for NIS until June 16.

NIS is subject to US sanctions affecting Russia's energy sector.

Gazprom and Gazprom Neft together own more than 50pc of NIS. MOL signed a binding agreement in January to buy the Russian stake. ADNOC, the state-owned oil company of the UAE, could take part in the transaction as a minority investor.

The Serbian state owns about 30pc of NIS, with the remainder held by smaller shareholders and employees.

The Pancevo refinery has an annual capacity of close to 4.8 million tonnes. NIS also operates nearly 400 service stations across Serbia, Romania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In its upstream portfolio, NIS has around 173 million barrels of oil equivalent 2P reserves with daily crude and gas production in Serbia exceeding 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It also holds exploration licences in Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Commenting on the latest talks between Serbia's energy minister and the chairman-CEO of MOL on the future of NIS, MOL said the talks will continue in accordance with the previously signed framework agreement, in compliance with the sanctions regulations of the United States and European Union.

The transaction will require approval of the OFAC and Serbian government agencies, among other things, it added.

Photo: Pixabay.com

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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