MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/. Rosatom hopes to accelerate construction of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant expansion project under Hungary’s new government, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev told reporters on the sidelines of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

"Only a few days remain before the appointment of Hungary’s new government. Work at the Paks-2 site is proceeding at full speed. In February, we poured the first concrete, and this year we will complete the concrete foundation slab for the first new unit, which will become the fifth unit of the operating nuclear power plant. Work is also progressing actively on the second unit. We very much hope that together with the government we will accelerate the project," Likhachev said.

He also added that Rosatom intends to continue developing its projects in Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.

"Recent developments in Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria show that these countries remain committed to the development of nuclear energy. <…> It must be said that in all these countries the key competencies were first Soviet and are now Russian. This includes personnel and fuel-handling technologies. We will continue offering our projects again and, of course, developing those projects that have already taken root. I primarily mean the Hungarian project," Likhachev said.

At the same time, Rosatom is ready to participate in various formats of construction of gigawatt-scale nuclear power units in Slovakia. "We know about Slovakia’s plans to expand nuclear generation. They already receive around 60% of their electricity from nuclear power, and we know that Fico and his colleagues have plans to build gigawatt-scale power units. We are ready to take part in this in any format," Likhachev said.