Bulgaria closing in on deal to sell two Russian-made nuclear reactors to Ukraine: Report

Bulgaria is close to completing a deal to sell two Russian-made nuclear reactors to Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Energoatom for around $650 million, according to a report.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, as per the terms of the proposed agreement, which is yet to be finalised, Sofia’s energy company NEK would sell the Ukrainian firm two reactors from Bulgaria’s incomplete Belene Nuclear Power Plant.

It would be the first time that Russian-designed nuclear equipment would be used to boost Kyiv’s energy output, added the report.

The report also mentions that there have only been two main payment plans for the reactors put up so far. One may imagine that as part of a package of aid for Ukraine, the US would give some of the money to Energoatom, which would then be transferred to NEK.

Another option, the WSJ reported, would be for Sofia to assume a minority shareholding in Ukraine’s Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant, where the reactors would be installed.

Zelenskyy in Sofia

Ukraine’s president Vladimir Zelenskyy arrived in Sofia for a one-day visit on Thursday, where it is expected that the nuclear deal will be discussed with Bulgarian officials.

Also on Thursday, Sofia’s parliament passed a motion requiring its government to hold negotiations with Kyiv regarding the sale of the nuclear equipment.

Pro-Moscow opposition groups in Bulgaria have criticised the idea, claiming it was hurried through the legislature to thwart any attempts to stop it.

The potential sale of the reactors highlights how the European energy market is in transition after the EU last year stopped importing the majority of its coal, gas and oil from Russia in response to Moscow’s military incursion in Ukraine. Even Bulgaria used to get the majority of its gas from Russia before this.

Marred by controversy

The still-uncompleted Belene Nuclear Power Plant has been the source of much controversy since the project was first undertaken in the mid-1980s.

Construction at the site has been halted and resumed on several occasions, with some Western governments noting their opposition due to the proposed plant possibly being dependent on Russian fuel.

It has also received objections from environmental campaigners, who claim that its location in a seismic active zone represents an unnecessary risk.

For Kiev, though, the Soviet-designed Khmelnytsky power plant in Ukraine’s west already has technicians trained to operate the Russian-made reactors, potentially establishing new energy exports from Kiev to Europe.

On Thursday, two pro-Russian parties in Sofia, the Socialist Party and Revival, a nationalist party, voted against approving the sale of the reactors to Kiev.

With inputs from agencies