The Hungarian nuclear power plant project Paks II is facing a personnel and technical turning point. The Russian general contractor Rosatom has ended its cooperation with Siemens Energy. The reason is the ongoing dispute over German export approvals, which ultimately resulted in a definitive separation.
It marks the provisional end of years of political and economic brinkmanship. Rosatom has terminated its contract with Germany’s Siemens Energy for the supply of instrumentation and control technology for the two new units of the Paks nuclear power plant. As Világgazdaság reports, citing Bloomberg and sources close to the project, the step had already been taken at the end of last year.
The cooperation between the Russian state-owned corporation and the German energy technology giant had long been strained.
Originally, Siemens Energy, in consortium with the French company Framatome, was to supply the “brain” of the new reactors. However, the German federal government — particularly the Green-led Ministries for Economic and Foreign Affairs — refused to grant the necessary export licenses, citing the war in Ukraine and the associated security concerns.
According to sources asked by the business news portal, the breach of contract on the part of Siemens Energy was “not a voluntary decision.”
The German company found itself caught between its contractual obligations to Rosatom and strict directives from Berlin.
In June 2025, the Hungarian government attempted to save the project. A plan announced by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó envisaged relocating Siemens Energy’s nuclear control technology division directly to Hungary.
Through this strategic relocation, Hungarian authorities would have assumed approval authority and potentially circumvented the German export blockade. However, the now-confirmed termination of the contract signals that this solution either came too late or that the legal hurdles ultimately proved too high.
Despite the departure, the Russian side remains composed. In an official statement cited by Bloomberg, it was stated that
the loss of Siemens Energy’s deliveries is “not significant” for the continuation of the project.
In terms of value, Siemens components accounted for less than 4 percent of the total equipment, and the affected elements are not critical to success and can be replaced by other suppliers or in-house developments. Rosatom is already exploring several options to fill the resulting gap in control technology.
Despite the turbulence surrounding suppliers, the Paks II project reached an important milestone last week. With the pouring of the first concrete, the actual construction phase of the two 1,200-megawatt units began.
The multi-billion-euro project, based on a 2014 intergovernmental agreement, is currently scheduled to begin operating in 2031 or 2032. Whether the retendering of the control technology will affect this tight timetable remains to be seen.
Via Világgazdaság, Featured image: Paks II. Atomerőmű Zrt.
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