VIENNA, September 25. /TASS/. The sanctions policy of Western countries is hitting the Hungarian Paks-2 nuclear power plant project, which is being built in cooperation with Rosatom, but it will still develop. CEO of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev stated this during the 67th annual session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"We thoroughly discussed with the Minister [of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter] Szijjarto the details of this project, issues related to import substitution, since the sanctions policy of the West is also hitting this project, but nothing will stop it. I am sure that it will develop at the proper pace and in interests of the Hungarian people," he said.

About Paks project

The Paks NPP, which was built with Soviet technologies, and which uses Russian nuclear fuel, provides half of all generated and one third of consumed electricity in Hungary. At present, four power units with VVER-440 reactors operate at the station built about 100 kilometers south of Budapest on the banks of the Danube.

In late 2014, Russia and Hungary signed documents on the construction of new power units 5 and 6 at Paks NPP with reactor plants of the advanced VVER-1200 project, which meets the most modern standards of reliability and safety. It was reported that Russia would give Hungary a state loan of up to 10 billion euros for the Paks-2 project, with the total cost of construction exceeding 12.5 billion euros. The Hungarian government expects that after the commissioning of two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors, the plant's capacity will increase from the current 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts. In early July, the head of the Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Gergely Gulyas, said that the pouring of the first concrete on the foundation of the Paks 2 nuclear power plant in Hungary is expected in the summer of 2024.