Fuel shortage in Hungary triggers panic buying

A fuel shortage has led to "panic buying" at petrol stations, Hungarian energy giant MOL said on Tuesday, with blame directed at petrol price caps mandated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government.

"The supply situation is clearly critical, demand has skyrocketed, consumers are stocking up, and panic buying has begun," said MOL's executive director Gyorgy Bacsa in a statement sent to AFP.

Hungarian media published images of hundred-metre-long queues at filling stations nationwide on Tuesday, while an AFP photographer saw most pumps out of order at several stations in Budapest.

"A partial product shortage is present in our entire network and a quarter of our filling stations were completely empty," said Bacsa.

The fuel shortage has been caused by a 30% drop in imported fuel, as well as maintenance at one of MOL's refineries, and will take "several weeks" to resolve, he said.

But a government-mandated price cap on vehicle fuel products which has led foreign firms to cut fuel shipments to Hungary is behind the import shortfall, according to the Association of Independent Petrol Stations (FBSZ).

"The price cap must be dropped," said FBSZ in a statement sent to AFP.

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