Gergely Gulyás, the minister leading the Prime Minister's Office, published his response to Gergely Karácsony on his social media page on Monday afternoon, which you can read below.
Dear Mayor,
In response to your open letter addressed to the Prime Minister, I would like to inform you that the most important task of the government this year is to protect Hungarian families and Hungarian businesses from the consequences of the war and the energy crisis caused by the failed Brussels sanctions.
That's why we provide households, including citizens of Budapest, with utility subsidies of up to HUF 181,000 per month, or more than HUF two million per year. This is the largest amount of overhead support provided to families in Europe. In addition, the government provides additional heating subsidies for large families and launched a program for firewood and lignite. Even with high inflation, we ensure the stability of the value of pensions, we returned the 13th monthly pension taken by the left and this year we are also paying pension premiums to our oldest compatriots. Value-based pensions and family allowances greatly contribute to reducing the social care responsibilities of local governments.
The protection of jobs is of prime importance to the Hungarian government, which is why we also help companies in trouble. We launched a support program for small and medium-sized enterprises in the energy-intensive processing industry. We will support their energy expenditure and energy efficiency investments with more than HUF 200 billion. The government is actively working on the details of the factory rescue program and, if necessary, comes up with a new job protection action plan. With these programs, the government protects not only jobs, but also municipal tax revenues by supporting the operation of the economy.
Dear Mayor,
In recent years, the left, including you and your party, and even the representatives of the capital in Brussels, who are paid from public money, have consistently rejected nuclear energy, everywhere - including in Brussels - they have done everything to prevent the expansion of Paks, which guarantees energy security, while now you are talking about the extraordinary potential of Paks electricity and the letter written about the cheap energy that can be extracted from nuclear energy.
Since the Paks extension, which you have been pushing for with all means, has not yet been completed, the currently operating Paks blocks cover about a third of Hungary's annual electricity consumption. The cheap electricity in Paks makes it possible for Hungarian families to pay the lowest electricity prices in the European Union. The remaining energy demand must be covered by other power plants that produce multiple times the electricity in Paks, or by imports. Therefore, the fulfillment of your request - which would provide Paks electricity to municipalities instead of households - would result in the termination of utility reduction. The government rejects this.
The government appointed a ministerial commissioner to assess the budgetary situation of local governments and to negotiate the increased energy costs.
The Lord Mayor can also see that the fight against the energy crisis caused by the war and Brussels sanctions, and the protection of families and workplaces, places a huge burden on the country. This year, this means HUF 1,500 billion in extra spending for the central budget, while next year, based on today's calculations, these costs could be between HUF 2,500 and 3,000 billion. Accordingly, we gratefully accept all offers from the richest local governments, such as the capital, with which they can contribute to the resources of the utility protection fund established to protect Hungarian families and workplaces.
Budapest, October 10, 2022.
Best regards:
Gergely Gulyás
