Hungary needs supply-side shake-up

摘要

2005 is the third year of the liberalized electricity market and the second of the open gas market in Hungary. In both, all non-household customers are eligible to choose their energy service suppliers. The two markets have a very similar model, which has a post-single-buyer flavour. This is reflected most prominently in the fact that the former single buyer companies, MVM for electricity and MOL for gas, retain a monopoly right to serve tariff customers' needs at the wholesale level, and both holding companies control almost 90% of wholesale level trading. A free market segment, a competitive fringe I would call it, exists on both markets. The size of this fringe has been stuck at 20-23% of domestic consumption in electricity for a year and a half now. In the case of gas, we find just a few large customers on the free market -mostly served by a MOL-affiliate retailer.