Ukraine's state nuclear operator seeking $555 million bailout to cover debt burden

The state NPP operator NNEGC Energoatom appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to provide in the draft Law on the 2024 State Budget spending of 20.5 billion hryvnias ($554.8 million) to compensate its expenses for the payment of electricity supply services for household consumers (ISO service), reported the press service of Energoatom.

Debts for the ISO (imposed special obligations) service at Energoatom accumulated in 2022 due to the imbalance of the ISO, the occupation and shutdown of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, the company explains.

Energoatom states that the company continues to fulfill its current obligations under ISO.

As of September 21, Energoatom paid State Enterprise Guaranteed Buyer 9.1 billion hryvnias ($246.3 million), which is 100% of the advance payments of the estimated cost of the ISO service for September 2023.

The company also repaid part of the debt (2.1 billion hryvnias or $56.8 million) accumulated in previous periods.

"The company plans to continue to fully fulfill its current obligations to ensure the availability of electricity for household consumers," Energoatom states.

On September 13, Energoatom reported that the nuclear power plants provided 19% more electricity than the norm in order not to turn off the electricity to Ukrainians in the summer.