energy

22% of Europeans are unable to heat their homes properly, and 26% have been unable to pay their utility bills in the past year due to lack of money. Thanks to the overhead cost reduction, Hungary has the lowest figures for both indicators among EU Member States. But the Brussels plan to ban Russian energy would jeopardise the programme, with serious social consequences.

Brussels is considering a new measure to ban Russian energy imports into the European Union. According to Századvég estimates, the missing natural gas volumes would cause prices to double and volatility to increase on European natural gas exchanges, which would further undermine the EU’s competitiveness and increase Hungary’s energy bill by a total of HUF 1,100 billion. With the increased expenses, the overhead cost reduction policy would become unsustainable, and Hungarian families’ heating costs would increase three and a half times the current level, which would mean an average additional expense of nearly half a million forints per year.

In the first three years of the Russia-Ukraine war, Hungary was hit by costs of around 9,100 billion forints, which amounted to more than 2 million forints per family. Ukraine’s accelerated accession would increase the burden further. The direct costs would be close to 2 thousand billion forints per year, which would amount to almost half a million forints per household. Additional indirect costs, which are difficult to quantify, could be even higher.

Századvég presented its latest research, which aims to explore the impact of recent crises on Hungarian society. The research focused on how crises have affected social stratification, mobility and mental health. The research used a multidimensional approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods to identify patterns of crisis impacts across different social groups and geographical units, and to explore deeper contexts and narratives.