EU court cancels permit for Russia to build reactors at Paks-2 NPP

The Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) has annulled the decision of the European Commission (EC) to allocate financial assistance to Hungary for the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) by the Russian company Nizhny Novgorod Engineering. This is stated in the ruling of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The Court of Justice annuls the decision of the General Court and annuls the decision of the European Commission approving state aid from Hungary for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Paks NPP.

Ruling of the Court of Justice in Luxembourg

Hungarian state subsidies were found to be inconsistent with EU regulations and public procurement rules.

The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld Austria's appeal and overturned an earlier verdict on the compliance of the Russian-Hungarian agreement on financing the construction of the Paks-2 NPP with EU rules. Vienna argued that financing the project through a Russian loan violated European Union norms. In 2022, the court rejected Austria's claim, but Vienna filed an appeal.

The ruling of the EU court annuls the decision of the European Commission, but, according to Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó, this does not slow down the implementation of the Paks-2 NPP project.

Hungary still considers the construction of the Paks NPP as the main future pillar of Hungarian energy security. This court decision in no way restricts or slows down the investment process; on the contrary, we have recently accelerated these investments.

Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary

The project, worth €12.5 billion, was planned to be financed 80% by a Russian loan.

Earlier www1.ru reported that the cost of building the Paks-2 NPP may increase, but the deadlines remain the same.