EC says no objection to amendments in Paks plant contract

BRUSSELS, May 29 (PRIME) -- The European Commission (EC) has no objections to amendments to Hungary’s contracts with Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosatom over construction of the new nuclear reactors of the Paks nuclear power plant, a European Commission representative told PRIME on Monday.

“The European Commission has reviewed the amendments to the contracts on the Paks-2 project, about which the Hungarian authorities notified us last month in accordance with the contract with Euratom. The European Commission has not made any objections and has not demanded any changes to the suggested amendments to the contracts (on financing and construction of the reactors),” the representative said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in May 5 that the amendments to the contracts were caused by prolonged implementation. They should speed up investment in the plant. At the same time, Hungary did not plan to replace Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosatom as a contractor.

Any future changes would have to be coordinated with the European Commission, the representative said.

Hungary has to comply with the E.U. sanction policy against Russia in implementation of the Paks plant project. Moreover, the Paks-2 project does not further the goal of the E.U. on reducing its energy dependency on Russia, the representative said.

Russia and Hungary signed an agreement to build the fifth and sixth units of the Paks power plant with VVER-1,200 reactors in 2014. The project was to receive a 10 billion euro state loan from Russia. The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued a permit for construction of the fifth and sixth units in August 2022.

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