Construction of KhNPP power units: where billions of hryvnias will go

Construction of KhNPP power units: where billions of hryvnias will go

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the bill №11392, which provides for the permission to purchase equipment for the construction of the third and fourth power units of the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP).

The comparative table to the document includes a new amendment concerning the National Company "Energoatom", which will receive this permission. The law was adopted considering the strategic importance of nuclear energy for the development of Ukraine.

Among other reasons for adopting the law is the desire to compensate for the energy system’s capacities after the temporary capture of the Zaporizhzhya NPP by Russians and frequent massive missile attacks by the aggressor.

Khmelnytskyi NPP power units: Will Ukraine purchase Russian nuclear reactors?

On February 11, Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced that equipment is planned to be purchased from the energy company Natsionalna Elektricheska Kompania EAD in Bulgaria for the construction of Khmelnytskyi NPP power units.

The politician claims that tens of billions of hryvnias will be directed to Bulgaria for the acquisition of Russian nuclear reactors for KhNPP.

"What can be considered good (if it can be expressed in this situation) is that the permission is given only for purchase and not for the start of construction. Therefore, not all 300 billion hryvnias will be stolen yet, but less," Zheleznyak added.

It should be noted that in 2006, the Russian state company "Rosatom" won a tender for the construction of two VVER-1000 power units for the Bulgarian NPP "Belene", as reported by Bulgarian media.

Three years later, this project was frozen. In 2012, Bulgaria abandoned the construction of the power units and now intends to sell Russian nuclear reactors to Ukraine.