Food supplies for the Hungarian population are not threatened despite the severe drought hitting the country this summer, he said. Hungary’s agriculture can supply food to 22-23 million people in a good year so supplies are sufficient despite the drought damage, he added.

In response to a question, Gulyás said no other European country was helping consumers like Hungary, up to an average consumption of gas and electricity. Hungarians pay gas bills of 17,000 forints (EUR 42) instead of the market price of 180,000 forints and state subsidies on electricity are also considerable, reaching a monthly 200,000 forints per household, he added.

The government is working on offering alternative methods for reducing gas consumption to households and proposals will be published within two weeks, he said.

In response to a question on damage compensation to farmers, he said the state was making every possible effort to help farmers get compensated. The government expects getting agricultural subsidies from the EU but “beyond these it is not worth waiting for more from the EU”, he added. The assessment of drought damage is still under way, he said.

Asked about the effects on Hungary’s gas supplies of Russia “holding back” Nord Stream 1, he said gas supplies from the direction of Austria had dropped so efforts were being made to compensate for this from the south.

In response to another question, he said no decision had been made about a possible merger of Vodafone and Digi. It is too early to talk about how the state’s acquisition of a stake in Vodafone would affect telephone tariffs. “It can only have a positive influence, but as to what extent, it is too early to tell,” he said.

Hungarian taxpayers will benefit from the state acquiring a stake in Vodafone because a company that can generate significant profits will be in state ownership, he said. Gulyás added that the acquisition would not result in overdominance on the market because there would remain a significantly larger market player than 4iG or the state.