Russia’s ambassador to Hungary says Paks nuclear deal to go ahead

Budapest, December 9 (MTI) – Russia’s ambassador to Hungary has said there is no geopolitical development to endanger the deal to expand Hungary’s sole nuclear power station.

In an interview to Tuesday’s Magyar Hirlap, Vladimir Sergeiev said he was certain that Hungary-Russia relations did not have to be politicised and Russia was not exerting any kind of pressure in connection with the Paks nuclear plant or the South Stream gas pipeline, the latter having been mothballed in its original form. But this does not mean that Russia is not considering some other kind of gas transit corridor in order to diversify the region’s gas supply, he added.

“Budapest has never done us any favours,” he said, adding that the two countries’ economic long-term interests converge “as otherwise interests do elsewhere in the world under normal circumstances,” Sergeiev said, adding that speculation on the part of “political circles with counter interests” have nothing to do with the reality.

In the case of Paks, Russian energy giant Rosatom made what was objectively the best technological offer, complemented by the most favorable financial arrangements, the ambassador said. Preparations for the expansion project at the nuclear power plant are progressing according to the established timetable and the new blocks will be ready by the deadline, he added. All of this depends on the two countries, independent of geopolitics and “I hope independent of the Brussels bureaucracy.”

He said that Hungarian-Russian relations were a “pragmatic partnership” built on common interests, and they could flexibly accommodate reality — primarily in terms of Hungary’s EU and NATO membership.

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Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters