EBRD welcomes G7 commitment to finance urgent repairs to Chornobyl’s protective shield

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) welcomes the announcement by the Group of Seven (G7)that as leading industrialised nations, they will provide €260 million to fund urgent repairs to the New Safe Confinement at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, following the Russian drone strike that severely damaged the structure in February 2025.

The G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) expressed grave concern over the nuclear safety risks caused by the strike and pledged to mobilise funding to repair the New Safe Confinement. The structure contains the remains of Reactor Four and enables the safe dismantling of the original containment sarcophagus built after the 1986 accident.

The G7 also called on other international partners to join the effort and contribute to covering the remaining financing needs.

The announcement was made at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Autumn Meetings in Bangkok, following a meeting of the G7 finance ministers.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said: “The EBRD is grateful to the G7 nations for their continued leadership and commitment to nuclear safety at Chornobyl. We join the G7 in calling on the wider international community to contribute to these efforts at a donor conference we are convening in Paris on 9 November 2026, co-chaired by France, Ukraine and the EBRD.”

Chornobyl’s New Safe Confinement was severely damaged by a Russian drone strike on 14 February 2025. The attack breached the structure’s inner and outer cladding, damaged critical systems and severely compromised its two primary functions: containing radioactive material and enabling the safe dismantling of the unstable original sarcophagus over Reactor Four.

Preliminary assessments indicate that at least €500 million will be needed to repair the damage and restore the structure to full functionality. The work needs to be completed by 2030 to limit the risk of corrosion of the steel arch and safeguard the structure’s 100-year design life.

The EBRD has led global efforts to stabilise and manage risks at Chornobyl since 1995, mobilising over €2.5 billion in international contributions – much of it from the G7 nations – and providing more than €700 million of its own resources to fund nuclear safety and decommissioning projects linked to the site.

The Bank is now leading international efforts to restore the full functionality of the New Safe Confinement and to mobilise the remaining funding needed for urgent repairs.