You're reading: Ukraine can raise 800 million euros of foreign funds for Chornobyl program

Ukraine can receive some extra EUR 800 million for the program to overcome the consequences of the Chornobyl accident, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Raisa Bohatyriova has said.

"Today we have the prospect of receiving an additional sum of some EUR 800 million for the Chornobyl accident program at the request of our country’s president to other leaders," she said on the First National Channel on Friday.

Bohatyriova specified that this decision may be made as a result of an international conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Chornobyl accident, which will be held in Kyiv on April 19-22.

As reported, chairman of the State Agency for the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Management Volodymyr Kholosha announced in late March that the construction of a new safe Shelter facility at Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) will cost EUR 990 million.

Kholosha noted that two funds were created to perform work related to Chornobyl NPP: the EUR 1.54 billion Chornobyl Shelter Fund and the EUR 255 million Nuclear Safety Account Fund, which should finance the construction of storage facilities for waste nuclear fuel. He noted that currently the shortfall of funding at the first fund is EUR 600 million, while that at the second fund is EUR 140 million. Both funds have already spent about EUR 500 million for various Chornobyl projects.

To ensure more contributions to both funds, Kyiv is to host a conference of donor countries on April 19, Kholosha said.