The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed a law regarding the acquisition of equipment necessary for the construction of energy units No. 3 and No. 4 at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, as reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak (the "Golos" faction).
The relevant decision was made by the Rada during its session on Tuesday, voting in favor of bill No. 11392.
As noted by Zheleznyak in his Telegram, 261 deputies voted "for," including 190 votes from the "Servant of the People" faction. Additionally, "Batkivshchyna" contributed 15 votes, "Platform for Life and Peace" gave 16, "For the Future" provided 9, "Trust" added 14, "Restoration of Ukraine" contributed 12, and 5 were from non-affiliated members.
Later, he clarified that 269 MPs ultimately voted "for." Zheleznyak also emphasized that this approval is solely for the purchase and not the commencement of construction.
MP Andriy Zhupanin, commenting on the law's passage on his Facebook, pointed out that this allows Ukraine to finalize an agreement with Bulgaria before the expiration (March 11 - ER) of the Bulgarian parliament's authorization.
He also highlighted that the law only approves the purchase of reactors, which currently limits the project's cost to $600 million.
"The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will prepare a new draft law for the completion of the NPP, which must provide updated technical and economic justification and information on the sources of financing for the entire project," noted Zhupanin.
As reported, in a brief interview with the "Interfax-Ukraine" agency on February 4, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko indicated that the updated draft law, which will kickstart the completion of the two units at the NPP, has addressed all the comments and contradictions that arose from the deputies regarding the first version. He stated that the fate of 2 GW of generation now rests with the parliament.
According to him, Bulgaria is unlikely to extend Ukraine's authorization to purchase reactor units, which expires on March 11, if the law is not voted on, citing that there is "today a pro-Russian narrative" in the coalition. He added that there has recently been a lot of manipulation surrounding this law.
Previously, the minister noted that Ukraine had already spent approximately $2.5 billion on units 3 and 4 in the mid-90s. The purchase of two VVER-100 reactor vessels of Soviet design, which were to be installed at the Belene NPP in Bulgaria, requires at least EUR 600 million. According to the minister, this purchase will be funded through loans.
Bill No. 11392, proposed by the head of the energy committee of the Rada, Andriy Gerus, initially included changes to the electricity market, but ultimately the committee annulled all amendments submitted for the second reading at an urgent meeting on January 14, as well as the text of the bill, and submitted new provisions concerning units 3 and 4. However, the bill was not considered on the last session day of January.
According to the approved resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers dated July 26, 2018, No. 579-r, the feasibility study for the construction of units 3 and 4 at the NPP has a total estimated cost of 72.34 billion UAH in prices as of May 5, 2017, including construction work, equipment, furniture, inventory, and other expenses. Additionally, the cost of the first load of nuclear fuel amounts to 4.47 billion UAH.
The government bill No. 11146 from April 3, 2024, regarding the completion of units 3 and 4 has been withdrawn from parliamentary consideration several times due to a lack of votes. One of the arguments against it was the use of equipment from "Rosatom," representing the aggressor country, along with concerns about its quality and outdated technology. Without the law, the construction of such units is impossible.