Hungarian local governments in big trouble, Budapest may also have a freeze break
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Municipalities are unable to cope with soaring energy prices, and without state support, a “freeze break” may come. At the end of the year, the municipality of the capital will certainly have unpaid bills. According to Mayor Gergely Karácsony, other municipalities will face a similar situation.
Jánoshida is in big trouble
Béla Eszes, the mayor of Jánoshida (Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county), said the following at a discussion of the Association of Hungarian Municipalities on Friday:
“There are not enough trees in Hungary to allow all municipalities and families that have been using gas heating to switch to wood. But even if there were, gas-fired systems have been installed in recent years in modernisation projects funded by tenders. But they cannot afford the market price of gas and electricity,” Népszava.hu writes.
No electricity contract
Two years ago, the village of 2,500 inhabitants replaced its old wood-burning boiler with a modern gas heating system in the kindergarten and the day-care centre for the elderly. Now, however, it turns out that they cannot pay the gas bill, the article says. The 100-person kindergarten cannot be vacated, but the elderly are being moved to the village hall.
But they cannot sign the electricity contract either, because the price of HUF 65 (EUR 0.16) per kilowatt hour has now jumped to HUF 380 (EUR 0.95), so the cost of street lighting, so far at HUF 3.5 million (EUR 8,720), would be HUF 20 million (EUR 49,800) for a year, while their income from business tax is no more than HUF 40 million (EUR 100,000).