Minister Péter Szijjártó lost in the Rosatom-Siemens Energy-Framatome Bermuda Triangle

In recent weeks, Rosatom and Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó have both made announcements regarding the involvement of Siemens Energy and Framatome in the Paks2 project. Almost the entire Hungarian press reported these statements as fact, without asking the two companies involved. Átlátszó contacted both companies, and based on their responses, it seems that Szijjártó’s words should be taken with a grain of doubt.

“Siemens is not a supplier to the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant project. The contract with the company was terminated at the end of last year, as it was unable to fulfill its contractual obligations” – Rosatom announced in a statement on February 11. Although the press release was not published online, the Hungarian branch of Rosatom sent it to us upon our request. All indications are that Péter Szijjártó, the minister responsible for the Paks II project, was first informed about the issue from the press.

Siemens Energy confirmed to Átlátszó that Rosatom had initiated the termination of their contract – but not that Siemens Energy had permanently dropped out of the project. They also denied that they had failed to fulfill their obligations.

„Siemens Energy fulfills all contractual obligations for all its projects in accordance with national and international legal requirements. Currently, activities specific to instrumentation and control technology in the Paks II project are not continuing” – wrote Siemens Energy to our request. „We are in close contact with our customer regarding this matter but cannot provide further details due to contractual confidentiality obligations.”

Siemens Energy is obliged to obtain a permit from the German government for the export of control equipment. In response to a question from the German Green Party faction Bündnis 90/Die Grünen on January 28, the German government responded that so far neither Siemens Energy nor its partner companies have received a permit to export products necessary for the production of control electronics and related software and components for the Paks II nuclear power plant project.

Playing tricks

To circumvent the German government’s permitting procedure, Siemens Energy would have relocated its nuclear control technology division to Hungary, at least that was announced by Minister Szijjártó last summer. „A decision which is favorable for Hungary was made as a workaround, to have Siemens relocate its nuclear control technology division related to Paks II to Budapest. This process is already underway” – he said.

We asked Siemens Energy whether they have really planned to relocate their nuclear control technology business to Hungary. The company’s spokesperson only gave a laconic answer:

“I do not comment on statements made by third parties”.

Photo: Péter Szijjártó’s official Facebook-page.

Lagging behind

A day before Rosatom’s announcement, Minister Szijjártó was a guest on 24.hu’s podcast. In the broadcast, he did not mention that Rosatom had terminated the contract with Siemens Energy. In fact, the Foreign Minister spoke as if the production work in Germany was proceeding without interruption.

„I see how the French companies are progressing with the preparation of the control system, I see how the German subcontractors are progressing, so I consider 2031-32 to be completely realistic” – said Szijjártó when the host asked him about the status of the construction works. “There is currently major work underway not only in Russia, but also in Germany and France, which is related to Paks” – the Minister said.

However, at the time of the podcast’s recording on February 10, Szijjártó should have known – or at least could have known – that Rosatom had terminated a fundamentally important contract at the end of 2025.

If the minister knew about this, he kept it quiet on the show, and if he did not know about it, then the Hungarian government is following the events with a considerable lag.

Szijjártó in 24.hu’s podcast studio. Photo: 24.hu

In the government briefing on February 12, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás stated that “for now, news related to this has appeared, but I do not know of a final decision in the case of Siemens”.

Framatome: speculation

A day after Rosatom’s press release on February 11, Minister Szijjártó hastily announced that they would “accelerate” the Paks investment (which is actually in a 8-year delay). Szijjártó referred to negotiations with Framatome executives and claimed that “the French company will deliver one of the most important elements of the Paks reactor, its soul, the control system.”

Referring to Szijjártó’s statement, we contacted Framatome, and asked the French company whether they had indeed concluded an agreement to manufacture the control system independently, without Siemens Energy, and whether they had a contract that included this task.

„At this stage it is far too early to speculate due to ongoing tenders” – responded Framatome to Átlátszó.

Meeting with Framatome. Photo: Péter Szijjártó’s official Facebook-page.

Background

Rosatom and the Framatome-Siemens Energy consortium agreed in 2019 to manufacture and deliver the Paks II control system. However, the war in Ukraine and the European Union’s policies have brought significant changes in this area, and the German government is reluctant to grant permission for a company to participate in a Russian energy project.

“The federal government supports the efforts to completely stop energy imports from Russia to the EU. This is an important step in reducing the Russian state’s revenues which are used to finance the war in Ukraine. We are making great efforts to achieve this goal and have already taken measures. We are working together within the European Union to achieve these goals” – the German government wrote in response to a parliamentary question on the export license for Siemens Energy.

They added: “The European Commission has announced further steps within the framework of the REPowerEU strategy and roadmap, in the field of nuclear energy as well. The federal government supports this step.”

Written and translated by Orsolya Fülöp. Hungarian version of the story. Cover image: Paks II. Zrt., Tünde Vida.