Petrol tourism is at its peak in Hungary!
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Slovakians coming to fill their tanks with petrol in Hungary can save up to 200 HUF (EUR 0.52) on each litre. Therefore, it is not surprising that petrol tourism is at its peak near the northern and western borders. A petrol station owner in Balassagyarmat (Slovakian- Hungarian border) loses 5 million HUF (EUR 13, 054) per month because of the price cap introduced by the state and the government’s support scheme does not compensate for that.
According to rtl.hu, one of their favourite evening magazines, Fókusz, visited the Slovakian-Hungarian border to gather information on the current situation. The direct reason was a letter stating that half of the cars arriving at local petrol stations are Slovakian.
The magazine’s experience in Balassagyarmat supports the writer’s claim. The 480 HUF per litre (EUR 1.25 EUR) price is very attractive for Slovakian customers. Currently, they can save up to 200 HUF (EUR 0.52) on each litre. András Tóth, a petrol station owner, said he has been losing 5 million HUF (EUR 13, 054) per month because of the price cap despite the government’s 16 HUF ( EUR 0.042) per litre subsidy.
There were times when his company had to operate with a purchase limit: people could buy only 10 litres per day because they had less than 2,500 litres of fuel, while other stations had none in the Northern Hungarian city of 15, 000 residents. Furthermore, they received no news about supply.
Eszter Bujdos, an expert of holtankoljak.hu, foreign customers drive even 10-15 kilometres from the border to buy cheaper petrol. In Sopron, locals have been complaining for months that Austrian petrol tourists made their city uninhabitable. Ms Bujdos estimates the increase in traffic around 15 percent because of the petrol tourism.
If I was the Hungarian government, I would mandate that customers have to show their driver’s license so that non’-Hungarians aren’t scamming/being petrol tourists.
@Realist – welcome to the EU, that’s illegal. Even under our “Rule By Decree”
Upside is that other EU countries cannot discriminate against us – which some may want to, for other reasons
I forgot about that. You’re right Norbet, it would be illegal.