Kiev expecting to sign contract with Bulgaria to purchase equipment for Khmelnitsky NPP's units 3, 4

MOSCOW. March 14 (Interfax) - Ukraine is expecting the Bulgarian government's decision on the sales of two reactor vessels for the power units Nos. 3 and 4 at the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Ukrainian media outlets said, citing Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko's statement at a Verkhovna Rada meeting on Friday.

The adoption of the bill permitting purchases of the equipment for the Khmelnitsky NPP's units 3 and 4 provided an opportunity to prove Ukraine's interest in the implementation of this project and continue talks with Bulgaria, Galushchenko said.

As reported, on February 11, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a bill on purchases of equipment for the construction of the power units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnitsky NPP. On March 13, the bill was returned to the parliament with President Vladimir Zelensky's signature. At the same time, the text of the bill itself is absent from the Ukrainian parliament's website as of 1 p.m. on March 14.

Galushchenko said earlier that Ukraine had spent around $2.5 billion on completing the construction of the power units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnitsky NPP in the middle of 1990s. Ukraine needs at least 600 million euros to purchase two Russian-made VVER-100 reactor vessels, which were supposed to be installed at the Belene NPP in Bulgaria until the Bulgarian authorities abandoned this project.

Kiev is planning to purchase the reactor vessels from Bulgaria through a loan, Galushchenko said.

The general cost estimate of the construction of the Khmelnitsky NPP's units 3 and 4 in 2017 prices, taking into account construction work, equipment, furniture, implements, and other expenses, totals UAH 72.34 billion. In addition, the cost of the first load of nuclear fuel totals UAH 4.47 billion.