Why Ukraine wants to buy Russian nuclear reactors stored in Bulgaria

Ukraine’s government’s efforts to bring two new Russian-made reactors online at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Station in Western Ukraine are facing a stiff opposition, with the officials being accused of opening the door to corruption just as the war-torn country pushes to clean up the country’s energy sector.

According to a Politico report, the government argues that multimillion-dollar scheme to buy mothballed nuclear reactors will help shore up the country’s energy grid that has been decimated in the ongoing war with Russia.

The government believes that buying Russian-made reactors, currently stored in Bulgaria, at an estimated cost of $600 million is the the quickest and fastest way to do so, added the report.

However, the government is facing opposition from parliamentarians, including from at least one lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s own party.

Parliamentarians, whose sign-off will be mandatory for the deal to go through, are alleging that the deal could blow a massive hole in the country’s tattered budget for outdated technology that won’t necessarily help Ukrainians stave off looming blackouts, reported Politico.

The issue was raised on Tuesday morning when government officials met the members of parliament to discuss the matter. According to two lawmakers present, the government acknowledged it didn’t currently have the necessary backing amid swirling doubts.

“It’s extremely rare for things on such a high level not to be supported,” Politico quoted Andrii Zhupanyn, an MP from Zelenskyy’s governing party and a member of the parliament’s energy committee, as saying.

“Can we afford to be buying Russian nuclear reactors during the full-scale invasion? And what is the condition of these reactors? They were bought by Bulgaria 10-12 years ago, so will they work when they arrive in Ukraine?” asked Zhupanyn.

Expanding nuclear power need of the hour

However, Ukraine’s energy minister German Galuschenko, who is advocating for the plan, downplayed the concerns, saying that expanding nuclear power is essential for maintaining the struggling energy grid and argued that the two VVER-1000 reactors represent the fastest and most cost-effective solution available.

“Against Russian attacks, nuclear energy (accounts for) 60 per cent of our energy mix and is a backbone of our energy system,” Politico quoted Galuschenko as saying.

“The development and adding more units to Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Station is a priority for the government of Ukraine,” he added.

As Ukraine tries to crack down on corruption in its energy sector, the issue of buying Russian-made reactors has come under intense scrutiny exacerbated by the arrest of Galushenko’s deputy minister Oleksandr Kheil early this week.

Kheil has been accused of pushing for a bribe of half a million dollars in exchange for transferring coal mining equipment belonging to a state enterprise.

Zhupanyn and his colleagues claim the Russian nuclear reactor purchase will become another venue for such dodgy dealing.

“In the last 10 years, there have been many criminal cases against people using tenders to extract cash from Ukraine’s state nuclear power company," Zhupanyn told Politico.

“If you allow them to spend billions of hryvnia on this, you can expect a pipeline of criminal cases in the next 10 years,” added Zhupanyn.

Meanwhile, Galuschenko denied accusations the government was withholding information and said everything is discussed in openness.

“The very fact the law is in (parliament) and we discuss its provisions with MPs and society is a clear sign of our openness,” he was quoted as saying.

“All speculations on ‘transparency’ are manipulations by the forces and circles that are not interested in the development of the Ukrainian nuclear state sector,” he added.

Parliamentarians, however, continue to argue that the government has not adequately addressed key questions about the scheme’s cost-effectiveness or its ability to tackle the issues facing the struggling energy grid.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, an economist and MP from Ukraine’s liberal Holos party, expressed skepticism about the government’s ability to resolve these concerns.

“There are a lot of MPs from basically all factions that are not supporting it,” he told Politico following the meeting on Tuesday.

“We are concerned about corruption in this procurement process and we have not received any explanations,” added Zheleznyak.

Bulgaria’s own energy concerns

Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s energy sector is grappling with corruption scandals, as investigators raided the state-owned gas network operator’s offices on Tuesday over alleged misuse of EU funds.

In May, supporters of a far-right, pro-Russian party obstructed a Kyiv delegation from inspecting equipment at one of Bulgaria’s nuclear plants, which Ukraine intended to purchase for its own energy sector, reported Politico.

Ukrainian NGO Ekodiya has criticised the Khmelnytskyi project, arguing it relies on outdated Russian equipment that could pose safety and efficiency risks. Instead, the group advocates for investing in smaller, renewable energy facilities spread across a wider area.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of state power firm Ukrenergo, told Politico that a broad green energy network would enhance grid resilience against Russian attacks.

Recent missile and drone strikes by Moscow have severely damaged Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure, increasing reliance on EU imports. Analysts warn that without urgent efforts to expand capacity and protect critical sites with anti-air missiles, Ukraine could face a power crisis this winter.

Additionally, a recent fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine has heightened concerns about safety at the site, which the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly flagged as operating under unsafe conditions.

With inputs from agencies