Russia's Rosatom Welcomes European Approval of Paks NPP Expansion Project

Russia's Rosatom national nuclear corporation welcomes the European Commission's clearance of the project to construct two new units for the Hungarian Paks Nuclear Power Plant after scrutiny over public procurement, its senior official said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The EC said in a statement it had approved state aid support under EU rules for the construction of units 5 and 6 at Paks NPP, to be fitted with Russian VVER-1200 reactors.

"The construction of the two new Paks NPP units is an important project of Russian-Hungarian bilateral cooperation, and we are pleased to start the active phase of its implementation," First Deputy CEO for Corporate Development and International Business Kirill Komarov said in Rosatom's statement.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said last week he expected construction of the two new units to begin in 2018.

Russia is expected to provide Hungary with a loan of up to 10 billion euros ($11.14 billion at the current exchange rate) to complete the project under a late 2014 deal.