“Congratulations!," Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán commented to commercial broadcaster atv.hu when he was asked in Parliament about the chief of tax authority NAV arranging lower fuel prices in his constituency. And there was no trace of sarcasm in his remark, either.
Orbán added that “everyone should get this done".
András Tállai, head of the tax authority (NAV) and state secretary in charge of taxation issues, acted on “a citizen’s request" when he negotiated lower fuel prices for Mezőkövesd with Mol officials. He was mayor to the city between 2002 and 2010, it's his constituency.
We negotiated with officials at Mol and, as a result, gasoline prices have fallen 11 forint and diesel by 5 forint compared with October 31.
While there could be major price differences at the pumps, the price reduction by Mol in Mezőkövesd at Tállai’s request compares with a national average increase of HUF 16 per one litre of unleaded petrol and HUF 11 for diesel across all brands this month.
Tállai told commercial broadcaster RTL Klub on Monday he did not abuse his power.
No, this is not a try not to laugh challenge. But if it were, just remember that Tállai said the following with a straight face, so you should be able to compose yourself.
I attended [to the matter] not as the head of NAV. I did not write a letter as the head of NAV. I did not call anyone from my office. I’ve already said how it happened: I represented the interest of the people. We wanted to get information as to what was the reason behind this [high fuel prices in Mezőkövesd].
He also said fuel retailers should lower prices where poorer people live.
Remember, straight face! Elections are coming up folks. You’d better get used to meddling like this.
"While Orbán has made energy price cuts a campaign theme before, the sudden focus on a single constituency shows the ruling party’s willingness to intervene in the economy for political gain," Bloomberg reported on Monday.
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