BUDAPEST, February 14. /TASS/. The German government has no right to block the participation of the German company Siemens AG in the project involving the construction of two new power units of the Paks nuclear power plant (the Paks-2 project), which is being carried out in cooperation with Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary Peter Szijjarto said this on Tuesday after a meeting in Paris with French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher.
He noted that the French government has allowed its company Framatome to supply a control system for the Paks-2 project.
"On the contrary, the German government is still blocking the supply of the control system by Siemens which is intended for the Paks nuclear power plant in compliance with the contract," the Foreign Minister said in a video statement on Facebook (banned in Russia, owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia).
According to Szijjarto, such actions "can be seen as an encroachment on the sovereignty" of Hungary. "The security of energy supply is a matter of sovereignty, and the energy balance is a matter of national jurisdiction," the minister explained.
He noted that German Vice-Chancellor, Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, as well as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock continue to block Siemens' participation in the Paks-2 project. Szijjarto said they "have no right to block the supply" of technology and equipment to operate the two new power units of the nuclear power plant and "jeopardize the security of Hungary's future energy supply."
On France’s stance
The Hungarian Foreign Minister recalled that the control system for Paks-2 should be supplied by the Franco-German consortium Framatome SAS - Siemens AG. From a legal point of view, these are dual-use technologies, and in accordance with European laws, national export control authorities must give permission for their use for civilian purposes, which has already been done in France, but has yet to be done in Germany, Szijjarto explained.
"The French have a completely rational, pragmatic approach to this issue, not political or ideological, but based on physical reality. And the physical reality is that nuclear energy is a sustainable, cheap, environmentally friendly and efficient way of producing energy. It provides a sufficient degree of security in the current highly volatile situation in the international energy market, where prices are unreasonably high," he said.
Szijjarto noted that there is a consensus between Hungary and France on the importance of nuclear energy and that their most successful bilateral cooperation is carried out in this area.
"We agreed to support this strategic cooperation in the field of nuclear energy in the coming period," the Foreign Minister said.
According to him, Hungary and France agree that Russian organizations and nuclear energy enterprises should not be subject to EU sanctions.
"Hungary will in no way give its consent to possible sanctions regarding cooperation with Russia in the nuclear sector. We are glad that France also sees that such measures are meaningless," Szijjarto said. He added that cooperation in the field of nuclear energy with Russia should be maintained.
"Countries that can produce a significant part of the energy they consume themselves will be in an advantageous position, and nuclear energy, including investments in Paks, gives us such an opportunity," the minister said.
About Paks NPP
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. Currently, preparations are underway for the construction of two new power units designed by Rosatom. At the same time, preparations are underway for the construction of facilities as part of the second stage of the Rosatom project. Specifically, those new units are called Paks-2. The Hungarian government expects that after two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors are commissioned, the plant's capacity will increase from its current levels of 2,000 MW to 4,400 MW.
In October 2021, JSC Rusatom - Automated Control Systems (RASU, a subsidiary of Rosatom) and the Franco-German consortium Framatome SAS-Siemens AG signed an agreement in Moscow on the manufacture and commissioning of automated process control systems for two new power units of the Paks NPP. Earlier, as part of this project, a contract was signed for the manufacture of turbines by GE Hungary Kft, which is a Hungarian subsidiary of US company General Electric. With this in mind, the withdrawal of nuclear energy from EU sanctions is of particular importance for the Paks-2 project.