The investment can only be implemented with state aid, distorting competition both in the Hungarian and EU energy markets, Greenpeace said, noting that last November the EC launched an investigation to assess whether the upgrade project involved state aid. It urged the EC to ban the project also on the ground that it violates the EU’s directive on electricity.

The government should have invited a tender on the capacity increase with Russia well before the contract was signed, it added.

The project also fails to comply with the EU’s public procurement rules requiring transparency, over which the EC has launched an infringement procedure against Hungary, Greenpeace said.

Hungary signed an agreement in January 2014 on the construction of two blocks at the Paks nuclear power plant by Russia’s Rosatom. Russia is lending Hungary 10 billion euros to cover 80% of the project’s costs.

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