The Hungarian authorities have ensured that the 14th package of EU sanctions against Russia won’t affect the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant, carried out under the project of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto said.
“We have ensured that all elements of the construction of the new plant in Paks and all construction processes are completely exempt from sanctions measures. No government of the European Union can block the participation of European companies in this project,” Szijjarto said at a meeting with Hungarian journalists in Luxembourg after a meeting of the EU foreign ministers. The minister’s speech was broadcast by the Hungarian TV channel M1.
On June 24, the EU adopted the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, which envisages restrictions on 116 Russian individuals and legal entities. The EU also introduced sanctions on the exports of dual-use items and technologies against 61 firms from countries outside the community, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
The Paks NPP, which was built with Soviet technologies, and which uses Russian nuclear fuel, provides half of all generated and one-third of consumed electricity in Hungary. At present, four power units with VVER-440 reactors operate at the station built about 100 kilometres south of Budapest on the banks of the Danube.
In late 2014, Russia and Hungary signed documents on the construction of new power units 5 and 6 at Paks NPP with reactor plants of the advanced VVER-1200 project, which meets the most modern standards of reliability and safety. It was reported that Russia would give Hungary a state loan of up to 10 billion euros for the Paks-2 project, with the total cost of construction exceeding 12.5 billion euros. The Hungarian government expects that after the commissioning of two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors, the plant’s capacity will increase from the current 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts, TASS agency reported.
