Russia defends its multi-billion Hungarian project after Peter Magyar's victory: “We will have to pass an exam”
The head of Russia's state nuclear power company Rosatom said on Tuesday that the institution is ready to justify the costs of the project to expand Hungary's only nuclear power plant, costs criticized by the winner of Sunday's parliamentary election, Peter Magyar.
On Monday, a day after his victory over incumbent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Peter Magyar said the Paks-2 project had a “stunningly overestimated” cost and Hungary would review and even cancel it if it deemed necessary.
The leader of the Tisza party, which is to take power in Budapest, also talked about the possibility of asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to improve the financial terms.
The project, worth 12.5 billion euros, was awarded to Rosatom in 2014 without a public tender, and Reuters writes that it has long been invoked as a symbol of the close relations between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban.
“Of course, we will have to pass an exam. In the good sense of the word. An exam on the efficiency of the project, justification for its price and other parameters. We are absolutely ready for this exam,” Rosatom director Alexei Lihacev told reporters on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, the Kremlin said it was pleased that Peter Magyar appeared willing to have a pragmatic dialogue with Russia, and that it would base its own position on concrete measures taken by the new government in Budapest.
The first works took place this year
Under the 2014 agreement, Rosatom is to build two new reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant, located south of Budapest.
The ceremony of the first concrete pouring of the future Unit 5 took place in February 2026, so the Paks-2 project is now considered under construction, according to the terminology of the International Atomic Energy Agency, writes on the official website Paks2.hu.
Despite repeated delays, the VVER units, each with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, are expected to be completed by 2030-2031.
