Rosatom Seeks to Retain General Contractor Role for Hungarian Nuclear Power Plant

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 23, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, stated that the company hopes the Hungarian government will allow the Russian side to continue serving as the main contractor after completing its review of the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant project. The Hungarian government is assessing the possibility of replacing the general contractor and has approached other potential suppliers. The project was originally planned with an investment of €12.5 billion and involves the construction of two 1,200 MW nuclear power units, with a total installed capacity of 2,400 MW.

Likhachev stated that the Hungarian side is still auditing the project, and Rosatom hopes to receive a decision to continue cooperation while respecting the Hungarian government's right to independently choose its contractor. Under the current review arrangements, the Hungarian government is expected to decide by the end of 2026 or early 2027 whether to continue implementing the existing contractor agreement.

In 2014, it was determined that the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant would be built by Rosatom using VVER-1200 pressurized water reactor technology. Unit 5 of the project completed its first concrete pour in February 2026 and has entered the main construction phase. As of February this year, Hungary has invested a cumulative total of more than €2 billion, of which approximately €1.1 billion has been paid to the Russian side. The original engineering contract has undergone five amendments, and the text of the sixth amendment has been drafted.

The Hungarian government's current review covers the performance of the original contract, construction costs, financing arrangements, and technical continuity following a contractor change. Under the original intergovernmental financing agreement, Russia plans to provide a loan of up to €10 billion for the project. The project's existing engineering technical plans and contractual responsibility arrangements all fall within the scope of this round of review.