By Geza Molnar

BUDAPEST, June 24 (Xinhua) -- "Tele kerem szepen," meaning "fill up, please" is a sentence that will be seldom heard at Hungarian petrol stations until further notice, as the country's biggest petrol and gas company MOL has introduced new quantitative measures at its pumps.

Starting Friday, the amount of fuel that can be purchased at one time has been limited to 50 liters per vehicle (from 100 liters previously), and when purchasing additional fuel in a can, the higher market price is applied at the filling stations, MOL said in a statement.

Prices have been capped by the government at 480 forints (1.26 U.S. dollars) per liter since last November in Hungary, but the current market price of over 800 forints is also displayed and the lower price is valid for Hungarian residents only.

"I saw this coming, and I am not happy," a middle-aged woman, Marta Stein, driving an SUV told Xinhua at a MOL filling station in a suburb of Budapest.

"Now I must go and fill up (the tank) twice a week and I fear the 50 liters might be further lowered to 40, 30 or even less, who knows?" she added.

A man in his seventies, Gabor Valentin, told Xinhua that thanks to his small car, he was not worried: "I use only about 40 liters of fuel each month. As public transportation is free for us elderly, I just use the car to visit my mom once a week."

The manager of the station, a gaunt man in his forties who refused to be named, said that they were informed of the change Thursday night, but added that the move was no surprise to them.

"When all competitors have to sell at a loss ... they will stop doing business in Hungary sooner or later, which means that MOL will have to provide for the whole country. Even if it's a huge firm, it cannot maintain this scheme forever," he said.

MOL's CEO Zsolt Hernadi said early June that he saw an "over-demand" for fuel in the country. "So eventually consumption would have to be reduced and, if not in one step, price caps would have to be phased out."

Hernadi said the government might consider ideas like "car-free weekends" or enhancing state support to public transport.

The government set the fuel price cap last winter but has since extended the measure several times. The current end date is Oct. 1.

According to Otto Grad, secretary-general of the Hungarian Petroleum Association, there is nothing to be surprised about the restrictions: "If you introduce price caps, it will sooner or later cause a shortage of the given product."

"In the case of petrol, this is especially so in the summer months when consumption is even higher due to tourism and agricultural works," Grad told local news portal 444.hu.

He said consumption had increased by at least 20 percent due to the price cap, while the imports completely dried up from the market.

On Friday, the rival Austrian fuel company OMV said it was matching MOL's restrictions at its Hungarian fuel stations. (1 forints= 0.0026 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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