Hungary has thanked the Trump administration for lifting sanctions imposed on the planned expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant, according to the government’s information website.
Peter Szijjarto, the country’s foreign minister, said the sanctions had been imposed in the twilight of the Biden administration, and had made it “practically impossible” to continue with the $12bn project. He claimed that this was intended to “make Hungary’s long-term energy security impossible”.
In a separate post on X, the minister said the sanctions had been “politically motivated”. However, it has never been stated in public exactly what they were.
The assumption is that they were passed under the authority of an executive order signed by President Biden in April 2021, amended in December 2023. This declared a state of emergency with respect to “Russian harmful activities” and allowed the State Department to target “individuals and entities furthering specified harmful foreign activities of the Russian Federation”.
‘President considers Hungary a friend’
Szijjarto said: “Fortunately, since January, there is a president in the White House who considers Hungary a friend. It was in this spirit that the US administration lifted the sanctions related to the Paks nuclear plant project.”
The Paks scheme is being tackled by Russian state-owned engineer Rosatom, and is in receipt of a $10bn loan from Moscow.
The Paks NPP is Hungary’s only nuclear power plant, and its four Rosatom VVER-440 reactors generate about half of the country’s electricity. The plan is to add two VVER-1200 reactors to its establishment.
According to Szijjarto, this will be sufficient to meet most of Hungary’s power once the units come onstream around 2035.
Work on the project had begun, but was largely confined to fabrication of equipment in Russia and France. The minister said it could now “gain new momentum”.
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Hungary agrees new deal for two Russian reactors Serbia moves to create a nuclear power industry Luxembourg, Austria to sue EU over Hungary nuclear plantHungary thanks Trump administration for lifting mystery sanctions on Paks NPP Global Construction Review.
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