Bertalan Havasi, head of the Press Office of the Prime Minister, has told government news portal kormany.hu that the day after the European Commission authorised Hungarian state funding for expansion of Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President of Russia Vladimir Putin discussed the project in a telephone conversation.

The conversation was initiated by the Hungarian prime minister, Mr. Havasi added.

The Kremlin reported the discussion on the Russian president’s official website, kremlin.ru.

Mr. Havasi’s statement confirms that Mr. Putin and Mr. Orbán discussed current issues in bilateral relations, including the progress of the contracts that were agreed upon during Mr. Putin’s visit to Budapest on 2 February.

The statement adds that one of the other topics was the satisfaction of both sides with the European Commission’s decision, which “has removed the obstacles to realisation of the addition of two new blocks to Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Power Plant, with the participation of Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom”.

Prime Minister Orbán and President Putin also discussed international topics of shared interest.

(MTI; kormany.hu)