BUDAPEST, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hungary will have enough energy this winter, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said here on Thursday, as his government announced tough measures designed to reduce energy consumption.
"We will not face energy shortages, and this is not a promise but a statement of fact," Orban said at a business event.
He said that Hungary will have enough gas and electricity, and that the country will not see plants stopped or closed due to energy shortages.
There will be enough energy, he said, to supply households as well as enterprises.
Orban, known for his criticisms of the sanctions imposed by the western countries on Russia, lashed out at the European Union (EU) once again, arguing that because of these sanctions, "we now have to worry whether there will be enough energy in Europe."
"Currently, 11,000 sanctions are in effect against Russia, but the conflict is ongoing, and attempts to weaken the Russians have not been successful," he said.
Meanwhile, the soaring inflation and the energy shortages caused by the sanctions could bring Europe to its knees, he said.
While the EU sticks to its sanctions policy, "the problems keep mounting," he said.
Also on Thursday, the government of Hungary announced drastic energy saving measures for the country's public institutions and state-owned companies: they will have to reduce their gas consumption by 25 percent, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, Gergely Gulyas, said at a separate press briefing.
To achieve this goal, the government decided to limit the temperature for heating at public administration buildings to 18 degrees Celsius this winter. The measure does not apply to hospitals and social institutions. The maximum temperature allowed in schools will be determined in the next two weeks, Gulyas said.
The government, he said, is also considering skipping the autumn break in schools and having a longer winter break instead.
The government will cap firewood prices harvested from state-owned forests and limit availability to 10 cubic meters per household before the heating season, which Gulyas said will be enough to heat a private household throughout the winter.
The government will also launch a "coal program" in the coming days and raise the limit of open-cast mining, he added. ■
