European Commission gives green light to Paks II contract modification

The European Commission has approved the amendment to the contracts for the construction of the new units of Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, which will allow the acceleration of the Paks investment, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on his Facebook page.

"The amendment of the contract and the green light from the European Union will make it possible for the new Paks units to be in operation at the beginning of the next decade."

- the minister said. He said that Paks II will guarantee Hungary's long-term security of energy supply. According to Szijjártó, due to the country's natural resources and geographical location, nuclear energy is the energy source that can best ensure Hungary's independence from international markets.

The minister reiterated the reasons why the contract had to be amended: as he put it, the original contracts signed nine years ago had "become a bit out of date". The legal, technical and physical circumstances have changed considerably, he added.

It was during Szijjártó's April visit to Moscow that an agreement was reached with the Russian government and Rosatom on the direction of the contract's modification. At the time, the Foreign Minister said that "in many cases, political means and unlawful decisions are being used across Europe to block the successful nuclear cooperation between Hungary and Russia". There had been some speculation earlier that Rosatom would not be the contractor for the Paks II project after all, but another company would be appointed instead, but at the beginning of the month Szijjártó clarified that Rosatom would remain.