Politico reported that Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said that Ukraine will promote plans to buy old Russian nuclear reactors despite growing opposition from lawmakers, amid warnings of a major power crisis this winter.
Minister Galushchenko said that the government still intends to expand the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in western Ukraine, buying two VVER-1000 reactors currently in Bulgaria.
The proposal has been met with criticism from lawmakers in the ruling party, who see faster ways to support the power grid, which has been hit hard by Russian attacks.
Minister Galushchenko said: Our energy system is under this pressure primarily due to nuclear power. When we take that into account, we need more energy, even in the recovery process and especially after the war. We understand that any nuclear project takes many years, so we need to start as soon as possible, especially in the context that we have a built and ready building."
Last week, Ukrainian lawmakers told Politico that the government was forced to admit that it did not have enough support in parliament to pass a draft law on the purchase of reactors.
According to Andrii Zhupanyn, a lawmaker in President Volodymyr Zelensky's People's Servants party, such failures are "extremely rare".
Lawmakers question whether Russian reactors - purchased by Bulgaria more than a decade ago and now closed - could be quickly put into use and whether the money could be better spent on renewable energy and other power sources. They believe that costs may skyrocket and create opportunities for corruption.
However, Galushchenko pledged to defeat skeptics and successfully carry out the project.
We are continuing to work with the parliament to pass this law because this is a very important project for us, he said. I believe the parliament will approve it.
There is no suggestion that Russia will make a profit from selling these two reactors. After the failure of Russia's reactor deployment plan, Bulgaria signed a deal with US nuclear giant Westinghouse to expand the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.
Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure, including power plants and grid systems, has been repeatedly attacked by Russian missiles and drones in recent months, forcing Ukraine to import significant electricity from the EU.
Of course, we are trying to repair every facility that can be repaired, adding more power to the system, said Galushchenko. But Ukraine is truly facing the most severe winter in the country's history.
