The explosive rise in energy prices claimed its first Hungarian victim: the privately-owned JAS Budapest Zrt went under, as it was unable to bridge the huge gap between rising wholesale electricity prices and government-controlled retail prices, according to daily Magyar Nemzet.
The Hungarian Energy and Utilities Regulatory Authority (MEKH) has appointed state-owned conglomerate MVM Next Energiakereskedelmi Zrt. to supply JAS Budapest Zrt. As it was written, the Metropolitan Court ordered bankruptcy proceedings at JAS Budapest Zrt. from 1 April 2022.
MVM Next said that stakeholders will be informed and make an offer soon (by 8 December), and in the meantime, customers currently have nothing to do. MVM will provide a contractual offer to customers until 1 January.
During the period of the designation, MVM Next Zrt. is obliged to supply the affected users at the price specified in the NFM Decree on the pricing of the universal electricity service.
According to previous press releases, JAS was forced to terminate service with several of its customers due to the increased purchase price of electricity or tried to persuade them to contract at a higher price. Revenue from fixed-price contracts concluded at the beginning of the year did not cover the price of JAS’s purchases in the second half of the year.
MEKH recalled that on the basis of user indications, it initiated an official inspection at JAS on 19 October 2021. The company stated that it would not be able to supply the affected customers with electricity as of 4 November 2021 due to changes in energy market prices.
If the customer does not accept MVM Next’s service offer or enters into an electricity purchase agreement with another during the indicated period, he will be deprived of supply on the day following the termination of the final shelter service.
Press reports indicate that the majority of JAS Budapest’s clients were corporate, from manufacturing companies through retail chains to hotels and municipalities.
According to October data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, household electricity prices are the lowest in Hungary at €0.1 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and the highest in Germany at €0.32 per kWh.
