Hungary: Russia approved 10 billion euros loan for NPP Paks II

Moscow has approved the agreement on a loan for the construction of the two new units at a nuclear power plant Paks.

The agreement implies the granting of a deferral on the interest accrued from March 1 and until the entry into force of the document for a construction loan in the amount of up to 10 billion euros. Commissions from the unused loan amount in 2021-2022 fall under the deferral. Payments on the loan, must be made in euros from the Hungarian side’s account in a Russian bank.

In 2009, the Hungarian Parliament approved the expansion of NPP Paks, with the construction of two new units.

The cost of the project was estimated at 12.5 billion euros. In 2014, Russia and Hungary signed an agreement to provide a long-term loan of up to 10 billion euros for the construction of the two new reactors. 

In 2022, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued a permit for the construction of units V and VI at NPP Paks to Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, who said that the first concrete at the NPP site could be poured in 2024. In May, the European Commission approved amendments to the agreements on the construction and financing of the facility. 

Last week, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary is sticking to the 2030-2031 target dates for putting two new units at NPP Paks into operation.