Rosatom's paks project exempt from sanctions, fast-tracked by Hungary

The project for the expansion of the nuclear power plant in Paks by Rosatom has been fully exempted from sanctions, which means that the investment can be accelerated, announced Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. It will be the first nuclear facility that Rosatom built in the European Union.

Rosatom's expansion of the nuclear power plant in Paks is exempt from sanctions, marking the first such facility Rosatom will construct in the European Union.

The construction of new blocks at the nuclear power plant in Paks, including all its processes, phases, and elements, are completely exempt from sanctions, announced Foreign Minister Szijjarto, who is currently in Luxembourg.

Earlier, the Hungarian-language portal of Radio Free Europe reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government agreed to the 14th package of sanctions against Russia in exchange for not taking steps that would threaten the expansion of Hungary's only nuclear power plant.

According to Szijjarto, European companies intending to participate in the project will not need to ask their country's authorities for permission.

The expansion of new blocks in Paks involves, among others, French company Framatome and German company Siemens. However, the government in Berlin has long blocked the involvement of the company that was supposed to provide control systems for the new blocks, which Budapest has repeatedly criticized.

Previously, Russia also committed to ensuring stable supplies of nuclear fuel to Hungary.

After more than a month of negotiations, EU countries agreed on Thursday on the 14th package of sanctions against Russia. The new restrictions aim to hinder the Kremlin's access to technology and limit its revenue from energy resource exports.

The Russian state-owned company Rosatom is building two new nuclear power plant blocks of 1200 MW each in Paks, central Hungary. The project, Paks II, is one of the Orban government's key energy projects. The total investment is expected to be about $13 billion, with 80% of the costs covered by a Russian loan.

According to Hungarian authorities, the new blocks are expected to be connected to the grid at the beginning of the next decade, although experts foresee significant project delays.

Budapest regularly reiterates that it will block any package of sanctions that includes cooperation in nuclear energy. Hungary also signed a cooperation agreement with Belarus in this field at the end of May.