Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Budapest will not allow EU sanctions against Russia in the nuclear energy sector because they could affect its energy security. In particular, this applies to the construction by the Russians of the second stage of the Paks nuclear power plant. The pouring of the first concrete in the base of the reactor compartment is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2025.
From the very beginning, the Paks II project has caused heated debate in the country and criticism from Hungary's EU partners.
First, because the construction of the fifth and sixth units of the Paks nuclear power plant does not mean energy independence for Hungary at all. On the contrary, the country is becoming even more tied to Russia, as Paks II is being built with Russian third-generation VVER-1200 reactors.
Secondly, since the Russian state corporation “Rosatom“ is involved in the construction, the implementation of the project is becoming another milestone in the process of strengthening Moscow's influence in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary. This, in turn, undermines the EU's strategic interests in weakening Russia's influence on European countries.
Thirdly, the project is accompanied by accusations of corruption against the government of Viktor Orbán: lack of transparency in the processes related to the selection of contractors and the distribution of construction contracts, as well as close ties with Russian business.
In August 2022, Hungary issued a license to the Russian state corporation “Rosatom“ to implement the Paks II project. “Rosatom” was selected as the main contractor without a tender. Some of the documentation related to the agreement for the construction of the nuclear power plant has been classified for 30 years. The decision to start excavation work at the Paks II site was made by Budapest at the end of May 2020, even before Rosatom received the necessary permits.
At the same time, Budapest obstructed the European Commission's investigation into the lack of transparency of the agreement with Russia, focusing on the “political context“ of the agreement. As a result, the European Commission was forced to agree to the implementation of the project.
According to the online investigative journalism resource Direkt36.hu, in 2023 Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, despite the position of the state-owned company Paks II Zrt, responsible for the construction of Paks II, did not allow Rosatom to be excluded from this project and replaced by the French company Framatome.
As Hungarian investigators write, Russia has been exerting influence on the Hungarian energy sector because of Hungarian Interior Minister Sándor Pinter. Since the 1990s, as a high-ranking officer of the Hungarian police, he has lobbied for the interests of Russian oligarchs and Russia.
In 1994, Pinter received a significant amount from Russia to finance the election campaign of the Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz-UHS) party. In 1998 the party wins the parliamentary elections and Viktor Orbán heads his first government.
The control over the leading Hungarian energy companies is exercised by Sándor Pinter by appointing people close to him to the supervisory and management boards of the respective companies. The most important management decisions are made after consultation with the Kremlin.
Pinter lobbies for the appointment of people close to him to the boards of the leading energy companies in the country. Among them is the head of the energy company FGSZ Zrt. Kristóf Tergés, head of the energy company Magyar Foldgazkereskedő Zrt. László Fósekás, CEO of Paks II Sergiy Yakli.