Could the hospitality sector disappear in Hungary due to skyrocketing overheads?

The August utility bills have arrived. The increased costs are a big problem, not only for residents but also for caterers.

The first shock

We also wrote earlier about a pizzeria in Szeged that had to pay EUR 5,700 for gas for a month. The owners and managers of restaurants, cafés, pizzerias and pubs are experiencing similar issues. The increasing energy prices are hitting hard the hospitality industry.

A pub in Budapest has had a similar experience to the pizzeria in Szeged. Previously, it received a gas bill of HUF 300,000 a month (EUR 754), now it has to pay HUF 2.3 million (EUR 5780). Another unit had to pay HUF 900,000 (EUR 2260) for electricity instead of the previous HUF 180,000 (EUR 452).

The phenomenon can be observed in many places. However, unlike in the case of residential accounts, the change is not date-dependent. What is important is the date when the gas and electricity contract, which is usually concluded for 1-2 years, expires.  Generally speaking, energy costs have increased by 300 percent.

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In many cases, catering establishments do not even receive an offer. A restaurant owner in Pécs contacted 19 gas wholesalers. 9 did not reply and 9 gave a negative answer. This put restaurateurs in an impossibe situation, 444.hu reports.

If the restaurateur does not accept the companies’ offer, they just simply cut off the gas. According to one restaurateur, the energy market is no longer a real market. Restaurants are at the mercy of energy prices.