In 2014, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban agreed with Putin to build new power units, and Moscow gave Budapest a loan of more than 10 billion euros.
Today, November 14, the Hungarian authorities agreed with the Russian state corporation Rosatom on the construction schedule for the Paks-2 nuclear power plant, which they plan to build in Hungary with a Russian loan. According to Deutsche Welle, the agreement was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó, and the head of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev.
“We can now confidently say that the two new units will be commissioned in the early 2030s,” said Szijjártó.
Szijjártó added that the direct construction phase of the Rosatom project had already started in August, including the construction of foundation pits for the fifth and sixth power units.
The Paks nuclear power plant was built in the 1980s and runs on Russian nuclear fuel, providing a third of Hungary’s electricity.
In 2014, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban agreed with Putin to build new power units, and Moscow gave Budapest a loan of more than 10 billion euros, which will cover more than 80% of construction costs.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Hungary did not change its plans to complete the construction of a nuclear power plant, and also continued to buy natural gas and pipeline oil from Russia.
It was previously reported that the EU allowed Rosatom to finish building a nuclear power plant in Hungary. Paks is the only nuclear power plant in Hungary whose operational life has been extended to the 2030s after modernization.
Source: korrespondent
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