In order to handle one of the country’s most fundamental needs, Hungary will establish a ministry of energy, cabinet minister Gergely Gulyás said on Monday.
The ministry of energy, which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has appointed Csaba Lantos to lead, will start its work on Dec. 1, while the ministry of technology and industry will be abolished and Minister of Industry László Palkovics will leave the government.
“Due to the war and the sanctioned energy prices, energy security and energy prices are the most important issues in Hungary and Europe,” Gulyás said at an extraordinary press conference at the Carmelite Monastery. He added that the government has decided to create an independent energy ministry.
“Prime Minister Viktor Orbán asked Csaba Lantos to head the ministry, which he accepted with effect from Dec. 1,” he said.
The resignation of previous Technology and Industry Minister László Palkovics was accepted by Orbán. Palkovics justified his decision by saying that he sees the ministry as a single portfolio and will not remain at the helm of the Ministry of Technology and Industry after the formation of the independent energy ministry. Lantos thanked Palkovics for his work and said that he would no longer be responsible for higher education, the automotive industry, and defense.
The current technology and industry ministry will be abolished, and its tasks will be divided among several other ministries.
Lantos, 60, has a degree in economics and for the better part of his professional life has worked in the financial sector, including several banks and investment firms. Since 2007, he has managed his own companies which range from healthcare firms to the car industry.
He is married with seven children.
