REGULATORY QUESTIONS OF THE ENERGY MARKET IN HUNGARY

Abstract

The year 2003 involved a considerable change in Hungarian energy market. Liberalization of the formerly fully regulated electricity market began, and some practical experiences already presented themselves, as well as the new act on partial market-opening of the gas-segment came into being. The lifting of the monopole situation raised some theoretical and practical questions, on which the answer was given on the one hand by the rethought regulation, on the other hand by actors entering the market. In both areas there are interesting conclusions to be drawn from the foregoing events and from the experienced phenomena as well. In this study we endeavour to provide a resume about the theoretical background concerning the governmental regulation of the situations mentioned above.