OREANDA-NEWS  The Government of the Russian Federation has prepared a protocol to the agreement on a loan for the construction of the Paks-2 NPP, previously worked out with the Hungarian authorities. It implies the granting of a deferral on the interest accrued from March 1 and until the entry into force of the document for a construction loan, according to the decree of the Russian government published on the weekend.

Also, commissions from the unused loan amount in 2021-2022 fall under the deferral.

Payments on the loan, according to the document, must be made in euros from the Hungarian side's account in a Russian bank.

In 2009, the Hungarian Parliament approved the expansion of the only Paks NPP operating in the country, built according to the Soviet project, due to the construction of two more power units. The cost of the project was estimated at 12.5 billion euros. In 2014, Moscow and Budapest signed an agreement to provide a long-term loan of up to 10 billion euros for the construction of a nuclear power plant.

At the end of August 2022, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued Rosatom a permit for the construction of the V and VI power units of the Paks NPP. And in May 2023, the European Commission approved amendments to the agreements on the construction and financing of the facility.

Rosatom reported that the first concrete at the NPP site could be poured in 2024.