The Government of Hungary has been examining opportunities for the use of nuclear energy in Hungary for four years on the authority of the National Assembly. Accordingly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin reviewed issues relating to the several decades old Hungarian-Russian economic and nuclear cooperation most recently on 31 January 2013.

On 17 December 2013, Minister of State Heading the Prime Minister's Office János Lázár informed the Economic and Information Technology Committee of Parliament that advanced negotiations are underway and nearing completion between Hungary and Russia on the continuation of cooperation within the field of nuclear energy. According to the Minister of State, long-term cooperation with Russia would, while maintaining the two countries' excellent economic relations, be beneficial within the fields of education, science, research and energy.

The opposition parties did not take part at this session of the Committee, despite the fact that János Lázár had indicated that he was ready to provide information on maintaining of the capacity of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.

At the Committee's session, the Minister of State stressed, among others, that "Hungarians citizens and households require affordable electricity prices, but the question of what kind of electricity it is able to provide and at what price is at least as important from the perspective of the Hungarian economy". "The Paks Nuclear Power Plant is an unavoidable factor in this issue", he also stated. The next step in relation to the matter will be the signing of a bilateral agreement between Hungary and Russia, which must be adopted by the National Assembly.

At the invitation of Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will tomorrow review the results of the past year of Hungarian-Russian economic cooperation with the Russian President. The Government will make an official statement following the meeting.

(Prime Minister’s Office)