EBRD aims to raise EUR 500 mln by end-2027 to restore damaged Chornobyl NSC by 2030
While funding urgent repairs to the New Safe Confinement (NSC) over the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit 4, which was damaged by a Russian drone, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is working to secure significantly larger financing, currently estimated at approximately EUR 500 million, to fully restore the facility in 2028-2030, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said.
The EBRD needs firm financing commitments by the end of 2027 because the actual work for the full repair must start in 2028 with the goal of completion in 2030. This timeframe is set to avoid the risk of corrosion, Renaud-Basso said during an online briefing on Friday.
The EBRD president said that without repairs, if the structure’s integrity and airtightness are not restored, corrosion will occur and fundamentally damage the NSC.
That is why time is of the essence, there are still a few years, but completion of the repairs by the end of 2030 is important in this regard, Renaud-Basso said.
She clarified that EUR 500 million is the approximate amount required.
This is not a detailed estimate because a detailed cost assessment and technical measurements have not yet been conducted, this is more to give donors an idea of what will be required, Renaud-Basso said. Of course, there is a risk that due to supply chain disruptions, possible inflation, and so on, this amount could be higher, she added.
According to her, the bank is currently explaining to potential financing partners the scale, necessity, and timing of the required funding.
In the very short term, the EBRD has sufficient funding to carry out very short-term repairs to stabilize the situation, the bank president said.
She recalled that France, whose companies were the lead designers of the NSC, provided the first EUR 10 million last year, followed by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Renaud-Basso added that this money is helping the bank today with preparations, meaning the detailed assessment and urgent repairs, while reiterating that a much larger sum of around EUR 500 million is needed by the end of 2027.
According to the first results of negotiations, she said, there has been positive feedback but no financial commitments yet.
The EBRD president said that she thinks that there is an understanding, and this is what the bank clearly emphasizes, that this situation requires an effort from the international community. The New Safe Confinement was created through the global efforts of many donors from different parts of the world, with strong support from G7 countries, the EU, and the active participation of a very wide range of partners, so, the same level of effort is necessary to resolve the situation and finance the repairs that are so essential, she said.
She recalled that the construction of the NSC cost $2 billion over several years and was intended to last 100 years, but its key protective functions were destroyed following a Russian drone strike and subsequent damage to the structure and a fire.
Renaud-Basso expressed hope that the issue of financing the NSC restoration will be discussed at the next G7 meeting.
As reported, a Russian strike drone hit the NSC arch directly on February 14, 2025. The attack breached the containment shell’s airtightness, caused the loss of anti-corrosion protection for metal structures, and damaged critical systems and equipment.
On July 1, 2025, the fifth grant agreement was signed between the EBRD and the Chornobyl NPP state specialized enterprise to implement a project involving damage analysis and the development of an action plan for temporary repairs to the outer cladding and sealing membrane of the New Safe Confinement.
The Assembly of Donors of the International Cooperation Account decided about a month ago to allocate EUR 30 million for initial restoration work on the NSC. At that time, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said that, according to preliminary estimates, EUR 412 million is required for a full repair of the arch.
