The Ukrainian side is hoping for a deal in June for the equipment for the Belene NPP for $600 million

Ukraine hopes to sign an agreement with Bulgaria in June to buy two nuclear reactors to offset its losses after Russia took over the six-reactor Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the head of Ukraine's state-run nuclear power company told Reuters in an interview. Energoatom" Petro Kotin, quoted by BTA.

The two reactors will be installed at the Khmelnytskyi NPP in western Ukraine and will be equipped with Russian-made equipment, which Kiev wants to import from Bulgaria, explains Kotin.

Russia took control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is Europe's largest, after launching its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The power plant's six nuclear reactors are currently shut down.

"Negotiations between the governments of Ukraine and Bulgaria continue... and I think that sometime before June we will have a result by concluding a contract with Bulgaria for the purchase of the equipment," said Kotin during the interview held yesterday.

"I have given the task to our construction organization and the Khmelnytskyi NPP to be ready in June for installation," he said, referring to the first of two reactors that should be ready for installation immediately.

Kotin also says that if the reactors are delivered on time and in full, Energoatom will be ready to start work on the new reactor in two or three years - the time required to manufacture the turbine for it. He adds that "Energoatom" is conducting preliminary negotiations with the American corporation "General Electric" for the production of the turbine.

The second reactor will be installed later, and Kotin did not provide a timeline for that.

He states that Bulgaria has set a price for the two reactors of 600 million dollars, but Sofia is inclined to increase the price of the equipment, which, apart from Bulgaria, can only be purchased from Russia.

"There is a constant desire on the part of the Bulgarian side to achieve a greater profit for themselves than the 600 million dollars in question, and over time they are talking about a higher price, but we are still focused on a price of 600 million," said Kotin.

He states that Energoatom intends to build two more reactors at the Khmelnytskyi NPP, specifically the American AP 1000 models, and also that the company will start pouring the first concrete for them in early April.