VIENNA, July 13. /TASS/. The Hungarian government has declared a state of emergency in the energy sector, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, announced on Wednesday. He added that this decision was made following a meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
"Due to the protracted war [in Ukraine] and Brussels sanctions [against Russia], prices for energy carriers have skyrocketed across Europe, and an energy crisis has erupted in large parts of the continent," Gulyas said as quoted by the MIT news agency.
"In recent days, it has become clear that Europe will most likely not have enough gas for the autumn-winter heating season. In order to provide energy to Hungarian families and the country's economy, the Hungarian government, like many other countries, declares a state of emergency in energy sector and adopted a seven-point action plan, which will enter into force in August," he added.
Gulyas specified that the government plan will include measures such as increasing domestic gas production, expanding gas purchases from abroad, limiting the use of gas at preferential prices, a temporary ban on the export of certain types of energy carriers, expanding coal mining, an accelerated restart of a number of capacities of the Matra power plant, as well as extending the service life of the Paks nuclear power plant, built according to Soviet technologies and using Russian nuclear fuel.
The head of the prime minister's office noted that by taking these emergency measures, the government expects to ensure normal energy supply in the country at reasonable prices.
"We want to guarantee Hungary's energy security and reduce utility bills for the population," Gulyas stressed.