Business 5 February 2026, 1:55pm

Portfolio

Gulyás, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, has announced on Thursday

that 75,000 people have applied for the energy storage programme.

He said that the government is therefore expected to increase the original budget of 100 billion forints.

The individual grant amount is capped at HUF 2.5 million. If everyone receives the maximum amount available under the programme, the original budget of HUF 100 billion would fund 40,000 applications.

However, if all 75,000 applications are approved and the applicants make use of the full amount available per application,

this would cost the Hungarian state a total of HUF 187.5 billion.

This also means that, within a few weeks, the government will have launched or increased the budget (topping it by HUF 87.5 billion) for yet another programme designed to improve the income situation of a certain segment of the population. The government hopes that this will boost the mood of those affected ahead of the parliamentary elections on 12 April.

All of this will be charged to the 2026 budget, which is already under considerable strain. The government has announced a cap on utility costs, which will be covered by an increase in the Robin Hood tax and the use of part of the reserves. In addition, the Home Support Programme for public employees will have a budget of HUF 180 billion, and the government package supporting restaurants will result in a HUF 100 billion tax loss, the extension of which is also being negotiated with the confectionery industry.

Let's not forget the public sector wage increases that have already been announced, such as the larger-than-planned increases at MÁV and Magyar Posta (Hungarian Postal Services), and the further wage increases in the publc sector hinted at in today's press briefing. However, the 15% cultural sector wage increase that came into effect on 1 January this year was not originally included in the budget either.

The call for tenders was published in mid-January. In our market overview shortly afterwards, we reported that there was considerable interest in the non-repayable grant of HUF 2.5 million and that it could be snapped up within hours.

The tender issuer amended the tender specifications twice at the last minute.

• On 28 January, it was clarified that participating in the tender or installing energy storage facilities would not automatically result in exclusion from favourable balance settlement, which would have deterred many from applying.
• Just two days ago, the rules were changed again to clarify the technical conditions, such as the kW limits for inverter replacements and the position of sole traders.

Cover image (for illustration purposes only)forrása: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images