Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Reaffirms Long-Term Partnership to Enhance Nuclear Safety at Chernobyl

Paris -- Acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Rashid Al-Bader, confirmed on Monday that the Kuwait Fund has been a long-term partner in international efforts to enhance nuclear safety at the Chernobyl plant over nearly four decades. This statement was made by Al-Bader during the Kuwait Fund’s participation in the Donors’ Conference for the New Safe Confinement rehabilitation at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, held on Monday in the French capital, Paris.

Al-Bader added that “since 1988, the Fund has provided four grants to support nuclear safety initiatives at the plant site, totaling approximately $15 million.” He noted that “these contributions reflect Kuwait’s enduring commitment to international cooperation and its recognition that nuclear safety and environmental protection are shared responsibilities that transcend national borders,” reiterating the Kuwait Fund’s readiness and willingness “to explore the possibility of providing additional financial contributions to support reconstruction efforts.”

In this regard, Al-Bader expressed hope for continuing cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other international partners to review the proposed reconstruction program, its financing requirements, and the necessary arrangements for its effective implementation.

The conference, organized by the governments of Ukraine and France and the EBRD, aims to mobilize $560 million (approximately €500 million) in international funding to restore and rehabilitate the New Safe Confinement to full operational capacity following severe damage sustained from a drone attack in February 2025.

For his part, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Denys Shmyhal, stated that “his country is working with the EBRD to develop the necessary technical foundations to restore the full operational capacity of the confinement facility,” emphasizing the importance of completing reconstruction and rehabilitation works by 2030, according to initial estimates, to prevent corrosion of the facility’s steel structure and ensure the continued operation of its containment and ventilation systems in their critical safety functions.

For his part, French Minister of Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Roland Lescure, affirmed that “France, as President of the Group of Seven (G7) and as a long-standing donor, has placed this issue at the top of the international agenda, following the G7’s repeated calls for a coordinated international response to mobilize financial support, both within and outside the group.”

On her part, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said the conference would serve as “a crucial opportunity to examine the latest technical studies and proposed restoration and reconstruction strategies, including indicative timelines and financing needs, as well as to review existing international commitments to secure new major pledges to support the nuclear facility’s restoration and reconstruction program.”

The Kuwaiti delegation attending the conference is led by Acting Director General Rashid Al-Bader and includes Ahmad Al-Sabah, Observer for the Operations Department for Central Asia and Europe, with Kuwait’s Ambassador to France, Abdullah Al-Shahin, in attendance. (End) M.B. / G.A.