MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. The first concrete pouring at the construction site of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Hungary is planned in October-November 2025, Chief Executive Officer of Russia’s state-run corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev said.

"The point is that starting July there are no restrictions on Gazprombank's activities in the Paks-2 project in place. At least that's how [Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade] Peter Szijjarto informed us on the issue. This provides an opportunity to move forward in an entirely different form compared to what was done previously. And the Hungarian government is demonstrating, of course, a desire to join the large-scale construction as soon as possible, which is a significant event, of course, named ‘the first concrete’. If everything goes as we plan it will be October-November [of this year]," he told reporters.

In late November 2024, the US imposed sanctions on Gazprombank through which Hungary paid for Russian oil and gas, as well as payments for the construction of the second stage of the NPP in Paks were carried out. Moscow and Budapest had to look for alternative payment options. Hungary has asked the administration of US President Donald Trump to remove sanctions against Gazprombank, which acts as a guarantor of financing the Paks-2 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. It was reported that Russia would give Hungary a state loan of up to 10 bln euros for the Paks-2 project, with the total cost of construction exceeding 12.5 bln 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.