ATHENS: Austrian Spar supermarket’s head Gerhard Drexel has confirmed that Spar supermarket has no intention of pulling out of Hungary and that it is going to continue functioning there, though the company objects to some regulations in the country.
“Business is booming for the company in Hungary, which is why it will not withdraw from the country simply because of laws that are incomprehensible and violate European Union rules,” Drexel told the paper.
Drexel did complain that new rules require foreign-owned businesses to pay an oversight fee of as much as 6%, while Hungarian companies pay just 0.1%, and he also criticized the European Commission for failing to take action.
With 420 stores and annual revenue of €1.5 billion, Spar has an 11% market share in Hungary, Hungarian news agency MTI noted.
