SPAR says it will stay in Hungary only on “reasonable” terms, CEO warns

Austria’s SPAR Group has again raised the possibility of scaling back its presence in Hungary, saying it can remain in the country only if conditions become “reasonable”. In a recent interview, CEO Hans K. Reisch said the Hungarian subsidiary is performing “highly negatively”, citing the combined impact of Hungary’s sector-specific retail tax and a government-imposed cap on supermarket margins.

What SPAR says is driving losses in Hungary

Reisch said the special retail tax cost SPAR around €85 million last year, while the margin restriction (a cap on trade margins for certain food products) added roughly €37 million in costs. In his words, SPAR would like to remain in Hungary, but only “under reasonable conditions”.

For foreign readers: Hungary has applied a progressive retail surtax on large food retailers for several years, with the highest band reaching up to 4.5% of net sales in the sector; in addition, the government has used price and margin controls to curb food inflation.

Capital injection and store closures add to pressure

Hungarian media site HVG reports that SPAR’s Austrian owner recently provided a HUF 30 billion capital injection to support its Hungarian unit — about €77.4 million at the ECB reference rate of HUF 387.54 per €1 (12 March 2026). The aim, according to reporting, was to prevent the subsidiary’s equity position from slipping into negative territory.

SPAR has also pointed to store-level impacts. It recently closed a shop in Oroszlány, and the company linked that decision to the retail surtax and the margin cap, arguing that smaller neighbourhood stores with limited parking and higher fixed operating costs are hit especially hard by these measures.

A long-running dispute with the Orbán government

SPAR’s relationship with the Hungarian government has been tense for years. The company has taken complaints to EU institutions over measures it считает discriminatory, and it has also pursued legal action over earlier price controls, which it says it won.

The European Commission has previously confirmed it was examining complaints about Hungary’s retail tax regime and whether it disproportionately affects foreign-owned chains. Separately, SPAR has been at the centre of a wider political-media dispute in Hungary over claims and counterclaims about pressure on foreign retailers and ownership structures.

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What comes next

For now, SPAR is not announcing an immediate exit. The message from the CEO is conditional: the group wants to remain, but says profitability in Hungary cannot be restored without a more predictable and less punitive policy environment.

The key question is whether Hungary’s government will adjust the rules affecting major food retailers — or keep the current mix of sector taxes and price/margin interventions in place. Either way, SPAR’s warning adds fresh pressure to a debate that matters not only for one chain’s future, but also for competition, investment and supermarket prices in a market where foreign-owned retailers still play a major role.

AS we wrote earlier, Asian guest workers appear among waiters: Hungary’s hospitality sector struggles to fill jobs.