US to lift sanctions on construction of Paks-2 NPP in Hungary per Rosatom's design — Orban

BUDAPEST, November 8. /TASS/. The US will lift all sanctions on the construction of Hungary's Paks-2 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) per Russia's Rosatom's design, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said following talks with US President Donald Trump in the White House.

"Those sanctions that have been introduced earlier will be lifted completely. Thus, on the part of the Americans, there are no objections against building phase 2 of the nuclear power plant in Paks," the head of government said at a press conference for Hungarian journalists aired by the M1 TV channel.

In June, US President Donald Trump suspended sanctions imposed by the Joe Biden administration that prevented the construction of two new NPP units in Paks.

In November 2024, the United States imposed sanctions against Gazprombank, which handled payments between Hungary and Russia for oil and gas supplies, as well as for the construction of the second stage of the Paks NPP. Moscow and Budapest had to look for alternative payment options. Additionally, on January 10, the US announced a large-scale package of sanctions targeting the Russian oil and gas sector, as well as the management staff of Rosatom, including the state corporation's CEO Alexey Likhachev.

A solution for oil and gas was found, but the funding for the Paks NPP construction remained elusive. As a result, the construction of two new power units in Paks stalled in the first half of this year. Hungary has asked the Trump administration to lift the sanctions against Gazprombank, which acts as a guarantor of the Paks-2 project financing. In June, Washington made a positive decision on the issue, granting an exemption from the sanctions for a period of six months.

The Paks plant, built by Soviet specialists in the 1980s, currently accounts for half of all electricity generated and one-third of the electricity consumed in Hungary. Located on the banks of the Danube, 100 km south of Budapest, the plant operates four units with VVER-440 reactors.

Simultaneously, construction is underway for its second phase - Units 5 and 6. Moscow has confirmed its readiness to finance this project, estimated at 12.5 billion euro, which was originally planned to be funded 80% through a Russian loan. Following the commissioning of two new VVER-1200 nuclear reactors, the generating capacity of the Paks nuclear complex is expected to increase from the current 2,000 MW to 4,400 MW.