Bulgaria nears deal to sell reactors for Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi NPP

“Indeed, March 10 was the deadline for reporting to Bulgaria’s parliament on the results of the negotiations. Thanks to the constructive efforts of the Verkhovna Rada, which supported the relevant bill, we were able to hold negotiations in Bulgaria, and the corresponding report was presented to the parliament,” Halushchenko said.

He noted that a previous report submitted to Bulgaria’s parliament in 2024 claimed Ukraine showed no interest in the project. “This time, the report confirmed Ukraine’s interest and outlined the terms of the agreement. Now, the Bulgarian government is expected to decide on signing the contract, which will cover all aspects of the deal,” Halushchenko added.

The Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant is located in western Ukraine near the borders of Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, and Ternopil oblasts. Construction began in 1981, and the plant currently operates two reactors. The first was launched in 1987, and the second in 2004. Both power units are VVER-1000 reactors with a combined capacity of 2,000 MW.

The original design called for four units, but the third and fourth reactors were only partially built. Energoatom plans to complete the two VVER-1000 units and construct two additional AP1000 reactors using American technology, which could generate up to 1,200 MW each. If realized, the plant’s total capacity would exceed 6,000 MW, making it the largest in Europe.

In 2023, it was reported that Ukraine had agreed to purchase two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria for the Khmelnytskyi NPP. The installation of these reactors is expected to add nearly 2,200 MW to Ukraine’s power grid.

In 2024, the European Commission acknowledged that the potential deal for the Russian reactors could be financed using EU funds allocated for Ukraine’s aid.

In September 2024, Bulgaria extended negotiations on the sale of the Russian nuclear reactors to Ukraine.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová stated that the EU would not fund the completion of the Khmelnytskyi NPP units since the relevant bill was developed without consultations with the EU.

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the controversial bill in April 2024.

Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko previously said that completing Khmelnytskyi NPP’s third reactor could take three years, explaining that the project would rely on loan funding.

Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun, a member of the parliamentary energy committee, called the proposal to complete the NPP units “unreasonable.”

Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the Energy Research Center, warned that the funds allocated for the project would be “wasted with no prospects.”

Mykola Shteinberg, former chief engineer of the Chornobyl NPP after the disaster and former head of Ukraine’s State Nuclear Safety Committee, dismissed the current attempts to revive the construction as “mostly talk and self-promotion.”

Lana Zerkal, a former adviser to the energy minister and an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, called the idea of completing the NPP units “a fairy tale.”

The bill on completing the Khmelnytskyi NPP’s third and fourth units was repeatedly scheduled for a vote but was later withdrawn from the agenda. In July, the Verkhovna Rada’s Anti-Corruption Office identified corruption risks in the bill.

On Feb. 4, 2025, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi expressed support for Ukraine’s strategy to complete the NPP units.

On Feb. 5, 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly backed what has been described as Ukraine’s most controversial construction project.

On March 13, 2025, Zelenskyy signed bill No. 11392 on purchasing equipment needed to complete the two additional units at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant.