The Prime Minister of Hungary announced that the sanctions imposed in November 2024 by the Joe Biden administration were suspended in June 2025 during Donald Trump's presidency. The temporary exemption was set to expire in December; however, as Orban emphasized, the issue of extension is not on the table, as a decision has been made to fully lift the restrictions concerning the construction of new power units at the nuclear power plant.
The 2024 sanctions affected, among others, Gazprombank, through which financial operations between Hungary and Russia related to energy resource supplies and the construction of "Paks-2" were conducted. This complicated the financing of the project and led to a temporary halt in the construction of the fifth and sixth power units. In June of this year, Washington granted a temporary exemption from sanctions for six months, allowing Budapest to continue its cooperation with the bank.
The Paks nuclear power plant, built in the 1980s by Soviet specialists, provides about 50% of Hungary's electricity production and one-third of its electricity consumption. It is located on the banks of the Danube, approximately 100 km south of Budapest, and includes four power units with VVER-440 reactors.
As part of the "Paks-2" project, the construction of two new VVER-1200 reactors is underway, which will increase the plant's capacity from 2000 to 4400 megawatts.
