Croatia’s Entrepreneurship and Crafts Minister Darko Horvat said on
May 5 that his country is keen to participate in a controversial project
to expand the Paks nuclear power plant that neighbouring Hungary
awarded to Russia’s Rosatom.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, Hungary has said it will
press ahead with its plans to add two new reactors despite legal action
started by European Union regulators against the country in November
over concerns about the compatibility of the project with EU procurement
rules.
"Croatia is interested in the project and is exploring a most
suitable business model to help meet local demand,” Horvat told an
economic conference in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.
"We are exploring if this could be via financing or some other model but it has not been decided yet.”
Croatia, the EU’s newest member, meets 60% of its electricity demand from local sources and imports the rest.
According to Reuters, the European Commission has been holding talks
to try to resolve differences after Hungary chose Rosatom in 2014 to
build the two new reactors, partly financed by a favourably priced
Russian loan worth €10bn.
The new 1,200-megawatt (MW) blocks at the Paks plant are expected to start commercial operation in 2025 and 2026.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/croatia-seeks-role-hungarys-disputed-nuclear-project/