Hungarians are flocking abroad to buy fuel

As Hungary has the most expensive fuel in the region, many Hungarians, especially those living near the border, go abroad to fill up their cars. In many cases, they fill not only their cars but also their jerry cans with fuel before coming home. Croatian public TV reported that Hungarian customers have been flooding the border petrol stations since the lifting of the fuel price cap in early December.

Hungary has the most expensive fuel in the region

After the abolition of the fuel price cap, it was clear that from then on, it will be cheaper to fill up abroad than in Hungary. Based on data from the transport portal Cargopedia, Index compiled a list of foreign fuel prices on 7 December. Right now, Hungary’s fuel is still more expensive than that of Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine – that is, every single one of our neighbours.

Among these countries, we can find the cheapest fuel in Ukraine. There, one litre of 95 petrol costs EUR 1.34, while one litre of diesel costs EUR 1.42. Among our neighbours, the most expensive fuel is in Croatia. There, you have to pay EUR 1.52 for a litre of 95 petrol and EUR 1.69 for a litre of diesel. This is still EUR 0.07 and EUR 0.1 more than in Hungary. Domestically, one litre of 95 petrol costs EUR 1.59 and one litre of diesel costs EUR 1.8. These are astonishing differences. Thus, it is no wonder that people started going abroad to fill up their vehicle’s fuel tank.

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Hungarians are flooding abroad

According to Croatian public television, large queues formed on Saturday at Donji Miholjac, south of the border crossing at Drávaszabolcs, with almost all cars coming from Hungary. According to the report, Hungarians not only fill up their cars, but also take oil cans with them and fill them up, Index writes. One of the customers from Pécs told Croatian reporters that because of the high fuel prices in Hungary, they save the equivalent of about EUR 50 (a little less than HUF 20,000) by going to Donji Miholjac to fill up. “I can save almost one euro for every three litres of fuel I buy,” another resident of Pécs said.

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It’s not only fuel they buy in Croatia

The Croatian public TV report also noted that Hungarians not only buy fuel in Donji Miholjac, but also buy a lot of things in supermarkets. They mostly purchase vegetables, meat and household products
like toilet paper, washing powder, flushing powder. All of these are much cheaper in Croatia than in Hungary.

The news programme also noted that since Croatia joined the Schengen area on 1 January, it is much easier to cross the border. The Croatian reporters crossed the border into Harkány as well. They said they could not find a single car with Croatian plates there, even though in the 1990s and 2000s many people from Croatia used to go there to buy things.

The golden age of mass Croatian shopping in Hungary is long over, the report noted. The pointed out that the only things worth buying in Hungary today are beer, a few soft drinks and meat products, and clothes.

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Source: Index.hu, Cargopedia.hu, vijesti.hrt.hr