RT reported that the Russian government has approved a loan to build two nuclear reactors at Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, called the Paks-2 project.
According to the decree published on the official legal information portal of the Russian Government on July 8, Russia has committed to allocating up to 10 billion euros ($10.2 billion) for the project expected to start in mid-2024. This loan will finance the majority of the project, with a total estimated value of about 12.5 billion euros.
According to the decree, the above loan is not subject to tax and will be paid without "interest, limitation, deduction, exemption or compensation deduction".
Paks is Hungary's only nuclear power plant. According to the agreement signed in 2014, Russian state-owned nuclear power giant Rosatom will build plant units 5 and 6, with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatt per unit.
The four reactors at Paks were put into operation from 1982 to 1987 and produce about half of the country's electricity. With new modern nuclear reactors, the government hopes to double the plant's electricity output.
The Paks-2 project has been delayed for a long time, but Budapest has granted a license to build power plants to Rosatom. The project has also recently been granted a license to renew its contracts with Russia, including the establishment of a project management company to speed up the construction process.
Russia's nuclear sector has so far not been a target of EU sanctions, and Hungary has repeatedly said it will reject any efforts to impose any such restrictions.
Rosatom accounts for 20 of the 53 reactors under construction globally in mid-2022 and has recently completed the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu.
Russia is also fueling a number of nuclear reactors in India and China, and building the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.
