Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev said he had proposed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Bulgaria and Ukraine jointly build the long-delayed Belene nuclear power plant using European Union funding, instead of Kyiv purchasing Russian-built reactors originally intended for the project.

Speaking during parliamentary question time on July 3, Radev said he made the proposal during talks with Zelenskyy in Brussels last month after the Ukrainian leader again raised the possibility of buying the two Russian-made reactors stored at the Belene site, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported.

"I proposed something else - that we build the Belene nuclear power plant together with European funds and supply electricity to Ukraine through Romania," Radev said, adding that such a project would benefit Bulgaria if realised.

The proposal marks the latest attempt to revive the Belene project, which has been abandoned and revived several times over more than three decades.

Construction of the plant, located on the Danube River near the town of Belene, began during the communist era but was halted after 1989. Bulgaria revived the project in 2008 with two Russian VVER reactors supplied by Russia's Atomstroyexport before cancelling it again in 2012 over spiralling costs. Parliament formally terminated the project in 2023 after failing to attract investors and instructed the government to negotiate the sale of the reactors to Ukraine.

The equipment, valued at just over €600mn, remains in storage after negotiations with Kyiv stalled. Ukrainian officials had considered using the reactors at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant, but the deal has yet to materialise amid funding constraints and logistical difficulties posed by the war.

Radev suggested the project could become viable after the European Commission signalled greater openness to nuclear investment as part of the bloc's energy transition, although any financing arrangement would require Brussels' approval.

The prime minister did not explain how the Russian-designed project would be completed, given EU sanctions on Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom and its subsidiary Atomstroyexport. Previous Bulgarian governments had explored involving France's EDF-owned Framatome to adapt and complete the project, but those plans were never implemented.

Separately, Radev said his government would not withdraw from a 10-year bilateral cooperation agreement with Ukraine signed by the previous administration, despite criticism from nationalist opposition party Vazrazhdane.

He said the agreement imposed no binding commitments on Bulgaria regarding military or other assistance and instead focused on exploring areas of cooperation.

"The agreement contains no specific commitments, deadlines or volumes of assistance," Radev told lawmakers. "International agreements signed by Bulgarian officials are commitments undertaken by the state. Bulgaria cannot send a different signal."

He said the agreement also covers cooperation on Black Sea mine clearance, combating organised crime and money laundering, supporting nuclear safety at Ukraine's nuclear power plants, and promoting Bulgarian-language education and the rights of Bulgaria's ethnic minority in Ukraine.