Second-Worst Idea Ever? Biden Administration Reported To Suggest U.S. Taxpayers Borrow US$650 Million To Purchase Russia-Designed Nuclear Reactor From Bulgaria And Donate It To Ukraine.
Biden-Harris Administration Reported To Suggest US$650 Million In United States Taxpayer Funds Be Borrowed And Used To Purchase Russian Federation-Designed Nuclear Reactor From Bulgaria And Then Donate It To Ukraine.
Is There No Limit By Bureaucrats To Ask United States Taxpayers To Go Further Into Debt?
Perhaps, The Second-Worst Friggin’ Idea…
Government Of Ukraine Reports Approximately US$39 Billion In Its Central Bank. How Much More Is Required?
United States Taxpayers Have Borrowed Approximately US$120+ Billion For Ukraine.
Ukraine Business News (7 July 2023): Ukraine may buy two Russian nuclear reactors from Bulgaria. Ukraine is close to concluding an agreement with Bulgaria on purchasing two Russian-made nuclear reactors and other critical energy equipment, reported the WSJ. According to the agreement, the negotiations of which are still ongoing, the Bulgarian state energy company NEK will sell equipment from the unfinished Belene NPP to the Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom for at least €600M. Since it will be difficult for Ukraine to afford such an amount, one of the options discussed between Bulgarian and American officials is that the US will contribute in the form of aid to Ukraine. However, another settlement option is also being considered, where Bulgaria will receive a minority stake in the Ukrainian Khmelnytsky NPP where the equipment will be installed.
The Wall Street Journal
6 July 2023
Ukraine Nears Nuclear Deal With Bulgaria in Fresh Blow for Russian Influence
Bulgaria turns against Moscow in negotiating sale of two Russian-designed reactors to Kyiv
Bulgaria is nearing an agreement to sell two Russian-made nuclear reactors and other critical equipment to Ukraine’s state-owned atomic energy company as Europe moves to roll back Moscow’s hold on the continent’s power supplies.
Under the deal, which is still being negotiated, Sofia’s state power company NEK would sell Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom equipment from the unfinished Belene Nuclear Power Plant for at least 600 million euros, or around $650 million, officials and others familiar with the situation said. If it goes through, the transaction would mark the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine that Russian-made nuclear-power equipment is used to help boost energy output for Kyiv.
The fact that Bulgaria, a former Soviet satellite state long friendly with Moscow, is considering the deal is a sign of how much Russian clout has eroded in the European Union’s eastern states.
With Ukraine struggling to foot the bill, one option discussed between Bulgarian and American officials would see the U.S. contributing through its aid for Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said.
This could involve the U.S. giving funds to Energoatom, which would then pay its Bulgarian counterpart. Another option under consideration is for Bulgaria to take a minority share in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, where the equipment is to be installed.
A State Department spokesman said that the U.S. supports Ukraine’s energy security and independence and referred questions about discussions over the deal and potential American financing to the governments of Bulgaria and Ukraine. The Ukrainian Embassy in Bulgaria didn’t respond to a request for comment. Energoatom declined to comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Sofia on Thursday for his first visit to Bulgaria since Russia’s invasion, with discussions including the potential deal, officials said. During a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, Zelensky oversaw the signing of a memorandum of cooperation in the energy industry between the two governments. Zelensky tweeted that energy was “the fundamental priority” of the talks.
The Belene plant has become a major flashpoint in Bulgaria, which is divided between those seeking closer integration with the West and those who want to reinforce cultural and economic links to Russia. On Thursday, the Bulgarian parliament passed a decision requiring the government to conduct negotiations with Kyiv for the sale. The possible deal, which has been in the works for weeks, was kept secret to prevent pro-Russian politicians in Bulgaria from trying to block it, officials said. It was then rushed through the legislature, prompting criticism by two major pro-Moscow opposition parties.
Europe’s energy landscape has changed beyond recognition since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year, with Russia, once the region’s biggest energy supplier, now all but squeezed out of the lucrative market. The EU last year slashed its imports of Russian oil, gas and coal. Bulgaria itself relied on Russia for most of its gas supplies before the invasion began in February 2022. “The deal shows how Russia’s energy influence in Europe is diminishing fast,” said Martin Vladimirov, director of the energy and climate program at the Center for the Study of Democracy, a Sofia-based think tank. The deal is also “part of a larger Western strategy to bring the Ukrainian energy market into the European orbit,” he said.
For Ukraine, which is working to complete two power-generating units at its Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant in the country’s west, the equipment would fill a gap for its Soviet-designed facility and help Kyiv expand its power exports to Europe. Ukraine restarted those exports this spring after Moscow tried and failed to destroy its energy infrastructure with missile and drone attacks. Ukrainian nuclear technicians are already trained to use Russian-made equipment. “After the start of the war in Ukraine, building a power plant with that equipment became [politically] impossible” in Bulgaria, said Delyan Dobrev, a lawmaker from the center-right GERB party, which supports the government. Ukraine “needs the equipment that we have. It is a perfect match.”
Russia has long used its command of the global nuclear supply chain to increase its influence around the world. Russia provides crucial fuel supplies, including around 46% of global uranium-enrichment capacity, according to the World Nuclear Association. The U.S. is one of Russia’s biggest customers of enriched uranium.
In Bulgaria, the deal would mark the end of a nuclear partnership with Moscow that has shaped its energy policy for decades and tied the country closer to the Kremlin. Work on the Belene plant has been stopped and restarted several times since the 1980s. Western governments have criticized it as a technically and commercially flawed project that would bind Bulgaria for decades to Russian energy supplies. Bulgaria already has another nuclear power plant with Soviet-built reactors in operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long sought to exploit divisions in Europe’s poorer eastern flank, deploying an arsenal of tools—including propaganda, economic pressure, hacking and political subterfuge—to wield influence and discredit the West. That strategy found fertile ground in Bulgaria, the EU’s poorest member in terms of gross domestic product per capita, which has for centuries shared deep historical and economic ties with Russia, including the Orthodox Christian faith and Slavic culture. Moscow denies exerting undue influence. “The Belene project was a key instrument for entrenching and expanding Russian influence in the Bulgarian political and economic elite,” Vladimirov said.
After the invasion, Bulgarian arms manufacturers became major exporters of weapons to Ukraine, usually via intermediaries in Slovakia and Poland. Late last year, the Bulgarian Parliament decided to officially send military support to Kyiv. A new government, formed last month, has promised to increase this support. But divisions remain. The country has been gripped by a political crisis—it has seen five inconclusive parliamentary elections in around two years—and support for Ukraine has been one of the fault lines. On Thursday, two pro-Russian parties in parliament, the Socialist Party and the nationalist party Revival, voted against the Belene decision.