Prime Minister Péter Magyar said market prices for petrol and diesel could fall under price caps in force for motorists with Hungarian number plates in a post on Facebook. Meanwhile, Hungarian oil and gas company MOL said it signed a shareholders’ agreement with the government of Serbia on the future governance of Serbian peer NIS.
The market prices could fall under the price caps “as soon as this week” amid a drop in global crude prices and a strengthening of the forint, Magyar said. The prices of petrol and diesel were earlier capped at HUF 595 and HUF 615/litre, respectively. Price tracker holtankoljak.hu puts average prices at the pump at HUF 639.7/litre for petrol and HUF 663.4/litre for diesel.
Tax on Urals-Brent spread can be extended in August
Draft legislation posted for social consultation on the government website would extend a tax on the spread between Urals and Brent crude. The draft amendment would extend the tax to a spread of between USD 2 and 5/barrel — at a rate of 50pc — and keep it in place for the 2027 tax year, too.
The tax rate on the spread over USD 5/barrel would stay at 95pc. The new rules would come into force from August. An impact study conducted for the draft measure estimates it would generate an additional HUF 6.25bn in budget revenue in 2026 and HUF 15bn in more in 2027.
MOL, Serbia sign shareholders’ agreement on governance of NIS
Hungarian oil and gas company MOL on Tuesday said it signed a shareholders’ agreement with the government of Serbia on the future governance of Serbian peer NIS. MOL signed a heads of terms agreement in January on the acquisition of a 56.15pc stake in NIS from Russia’s Gazprom Neft which was targeted by United States sanctions. The state of Serbia holds a 29.87pc stake in NIS.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury recently extended a deadline for winding up talks on the acquisition of the NIS stake until June 16. The agreement signed on Tuesday enables MOL to “take responsibility for the professional management, stable operations, and value-creating investments of NIS”, MOL said in an announcement posted on the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange.
“Upon successful completion of the transaction, MOL will ensure the supply of the Serbian market and the operation of the Pancevo refinery, while further strengthening the network and logistics connections of MOL Group’s energy facilities,” it added.
“I look forward with confidence to working together with the Serbian government. We will do everything we can to make NIS stronger and more profitable, and to ensure that Serbia sees us as a reliable partner,” MOL chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernádi said.
“It is important to emphasize that this agreement does not yet mark the end of the sale process. An agreement must still be reached with the seller, and approval from the United States must also be obtained,” he added.
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Dubravka Dedovic Handanovic, Serbia’s energy minister, said in the announcement that the government of Serbia would purchase an additional 5pc of NIS shares under the agreement and that the the Pancevo refinery would continue to operate for at least another ten years at capacity levels before the introduction of the US sanctions. She added that the agreement ensured there would be no disruption in the operations of NIS subsidiaries, including Petrohemija, and that the government’s representatives on the board would would have greater influence on decisions.
MOL has taken the necessary steps to obtain an extension of OFAC’s negotiation license, the announcement said. OFAC could extend the negotiation licence for a further 15 days, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Serbian public television on Tuesday.
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Featured image: depositphotos.com
