Cheap fuel in Hungary: US citizen sentenced to jail for illegal purchase

Fuel prices continue to rise in Europe, while, in Hungary, the government froze them. Thanks to the price cap, car owners with Hungarian licence plates pay a third of the average price in other European countries. Based on the latest survey, only Russia and Belarus precede Hungary in that regard. Of course, if you do not have Hungarian licence plates, you have to pay the market price, which is much higher. Therefore, many foreigners break the law.

Europe’s third-cheapest fuel in Hungary

According to the summary of index.hu, fuel is now the third cheapest in Hungary in the European Union, thanks to the price cap. If you have Hungarian licence plates, you can refill your tank for only 480 HUF per litre (1.17 EUR). That sum is lower in Russia (0.902 EUR/l) and Belarus (0.712 EUR/l). If you have foreign licence plates, the average price is currently 1.85 EUR/l for gasoline (Euro 95), holtankoljak.hu says.

In that respect, Hungary is beyond almost all Balkans states like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey. Furthermore, fuel is also cheaper in Malta, Moldova, and Romania. However, for example, in Central Europe, only Poland precedes Hungary if we calculate the market price. Moreover, in the eurozone, the fuel price is above 2 EUR per litre.

Read also: Fuel: extraordinary demand in Hungary, shortage to come soon?

Index.hu says that many European countries introduced a price cap for domestic buyers, but that does not have an effect on the market price. The reasons are twofold: there is a shortage on the supply side and a demand increase because of the end of the COVID restrictions. Agriculture works also push up demands, index.hu wrote.

American citizen was sentenced to jail for illegally buying capped fuel

Since the capped price is low in Hungary, many customers may even break the law the get their hands on it. A Romanian truck driver, for example, received 8 months in jail for replacing his Romanian licence plates with a pair of stolen Hungarian plates. The sentence of the Romanian-Hungarian-American citizen is suspended for one year, telex.hu wrote. The sneaky driver lives in Romania and transports goods between Hungary and Romania with his truck. He used that trick 6 times between May and June. The amount of damage he caused has reached 106,000 HUF (EUR 257).

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