Likhachev pointed to Russia's plans to continue developing nuclear projects in Europe.

Russia will continue to develop existing nuclear projects and propose new ones in European countries, in particular, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria. This was stated on May 9 by the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, answering a question from Izvestia correspondent Anton Zolotnitsky.

"These countries remain committed to the development of nuclear energy, and they are not looking for serious alternatives to nuclear energy right now. And I must say that in all these countries, the key competencies are Russian. <...> These are both personnel and technologies for working with fuel," Likhachev clarified.

He stressed that work on the site of the Hungarian Paks-2 nuclear power plant (NPP) is in full swing, and expressed hope that, together with the new Hungarian government, the process will be accelerated.

The head of Rosatom also recalled the words of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who called the slow timing of the project a "failure of the Hungarian government."

"I really hope that the Hungarian project will gain strength and power, regardless of the political choice that Hungarians made in the elections," Likhachev concluded.

Changing of the guard: what do Budapest think about the future of relations with Russia?

Tisa leader Peter Magyar called for pragmatic relations with Moscow

Likhachev announced on April 14 that the state corporation sees the interest of the new Hungarian authorities in the Paks-2 NPP project. He stressed that with the implementation of the project, Hungary will have the opportunity not only to meet its own needs, but also to export some of its electricity to other countries.

Peter Magyar, the leader of the Tisa party that won the parliamentary elections in Hungary, said that all agreements related to the Paks-2 NPP project would be analyzed, and some of them could be terminated. At the same time, the politician noted that Hungary would not abandon joint economic projects with Russia after the change of power in the republic.