The new government of Hungary will examine secret contracts regarding the construction of two new units at the Paks nuclear power plant by Rosatom, stated István Kapitány, the candidate for the position of Minister of Energy.
The new government of Hungary will review the financing and terms of the expansion project of the country's only nuclear power plant, Paks. "We need a transparent nuclear strategy," said István Kapitány, the candidate for the position of Minister of Economy and Energy, during parliamentary hearings on Monday, May 11.
According to him, this concerns secret contracts that the new government still needs to examine. Peter Madiar, who took office as Prime Minister of Hungary on May 9 after winning the April elections, has already expressed readiness to review all agreements related to the Paks-2 nuclear power plant project. He stated that the project's cost may be inflated.
Agreement on the Expansion of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant Signed in 2014
The agreement for the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant, with a capacity of 2 gigawatts, was signed in 2014 with the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom without a tender. Two Russian VVER reactors are planned to be built at the plant at a cost of 12.5 billion euros. This project is often cited as a vivid example of the close ties between Budapest and Moscow under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Since then, the implementation of the project has been postponed. In November 2024, the U.S. administration led by Democrat Joe Biden imposed sanctions against the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant with Russian involvement, but in November 2025, they were lifted by the administration of Donald Trump. In September 2025, the European Union Court annulled the permission granted by the European Commission in 2017 for Hungary's financial contribution to the expansion of Paks.
Construction Began in February
In February 2026, construction of the new units at Paks began, with Rosatom announcing the "pouring of the first concrete" for the reactor building foundation for unit No. 5. The construction of the new reactors was entrusted to the Nizhny Novgorod engineering company Atomenergoproject, which is part of the state corporation Rosatom.
The Paks nuclear power plant, located 100 km from Budapest, was built using Soviet technology in the 1980s. It is the only nuclear power plant in Hungary, producing more than 40 percent of the energy generated in the country.
Leave a comment