Did you know that in Hungary, if you want lower gas prices all you have to do is ask?

Many articles have been written about the actions of Hungarian Secretary of State, András Tállai, against the high gas prices in Mezőkövesd. Tállai negotiated with MOL Nyrt., and he achieved the reduction of both gasoline and diesel prices in Mezőkövesd, index.hu reports.

Naturally, people had their opinions on the subject, and even Bloomberg, an influential American news agency, wrote an article about the issue titled “How to get cheaper gas in Hungary.”

The story started when Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Taxation, András Tállai shared his concerns about the high gas prices in Mezőkövesd in a Facebook post on 11 November:

“Based on a citizen’s request, I have attended to fuel prices in Mezőkövesd and its vicinity. . . we negotiated with officials at MOL and, as a result, gasoline prices have fallen HUF 11 and diesel prices by HUF 5 compared to the prices on 31 October.”

Mezőkövesd’s former Member of Parliament single-handedly managed to achieve the fall of gas prices in the small town of Mezőkövesd to the delight of its residents.

Photo: Facebook.com/tallaiandrasfidesz/

Although, the price of the most commonly used blend was still 2.6 higher in Mezőkövesd than the national average.

Gas prices in Hungary range from HUF 346 to HUF 416 per litre, with a national average of HUF 365 per litre.

Tállai also said that regional gas prices continue to equalize in Hungary. Although, the wholesale price of gas is the same everywhere, gas prices differ due to many influential factors such as: the distance of transportation, the stations’ rent fees, whether it is on a highway or not, etc.

So, a politician helped his people out. One might ask: what is wrong with that? Well, the gist of the problem was explained in Bloomberg’s article on the Hungarian politician’s actions:

“While Viktor Orbán has made energy price cuts a campaign theme before, the sudden focus on a single constituency shows the ruling party’s willingness to intervene in the economy for political gain.”

The question arises: would a member of parliament from another political party be able to pull something like this?

Index (rightfully) pointed out that we might as well complain about the prices of meat, bread or literally anything else to our members of parliament and all of our troubles will go away…right?

Featured image: Facebook.com/mol.magyarorszag/

Source: www.index.hu; www.bloomberg.com