All news

Construction of Paks NPP new units to bolster Hungary’s energy security — Lavrov

The Russian foreign minister said that the construction of two new units at the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary is "a matter of strategic importance"
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Mikhail Tereschenko/TASS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
© Mikhail Tereschenko/TASS

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Russia-backed construction of two new units at the Paks nuclear power plant will beef up energy security in Hungary, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday after talks with Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.

During the talks, the two foreign ministers "outlined practical steps for operative and efficient implementation of the agreements" approved by the two countries’ leaders.

"We focused on implementation of major projects, including the construction by [Russia’s] Rosatom Corporation of two new units at the Paks nuclear power plant, which are - without exaggeration - a matter of strategic importance, in particular due to high-technology nature of this project," Lavrov said.

"We are convinced that its [project’s] implementation will boost Hungary’s energy security and will give an impetus to job creation and on the whole, to the national economy growth," he added.

"We have been promoting other joint initiatives, including modernization of rail cars for Budapest’s underground system by Russian specialists and our joint work on third countries’ markets," he went on to say. "Recently, we have signed a contract on our companies’ joint deliveries of 1,300 passenger rail cars to Egypt."

Lavrov said that "all the issues and other long-term plans will be on the table of a regular session of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation," scheduled for November 22 in Budapest.

"We have agreed to bring forward the constituent conference of a new bilateral commission, which will be tasked to promote regional cooperation between Russian and Hungarian regions," Lavrov added.