The United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with financial support of £210 million, or more than €242 million, to ensure the stable operation of nuclear energy over the next two years. The financing will be provided through the state export credit agency UK Export Finance (UKEF).
The allocation of funds was announced on 16 June. The initiative resulted from agreements between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The funds will be directed toward the purchase of enriched uranium from British company Urenco for Ukraine’s national nuclear energy operator Energoatom. According to Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, the support will help guarantee reliable fuel supplies for Ukrainian nuclear power plants amid the ongoing war and regular Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.
Shmyhal noted that nuclear generation remains a key element of Ukraine’s energy system, accounting for more than half of the country’s total electricity production. In this context, uninterrupted supplies of nuclear fuel are of strategic importance for the country’s energy security.
The minister also thanked the UK government, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, UK Export Finance, Urenco and other British partners for supporting Ukraine’s energy sector.
Ukraine’s cooperation with the UK-based Urenco Group in the supply of enriched uranium began after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Negotiations between the parties started in spring 2022, when Ukraine began an accelerated process of abandoning Russian nuclear fuel. After cooperation with Russian suppliers was terminated, the US company Westinghouse became the sole fuel producer for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, while using enriched uranium supplied by Britain’s Urenco.
In 2023, Energoatom and Urenco signed a long-term contract for the supply of enriched uranium to Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The agreement provides for deliveries until 2035, with an option to extend cooperation until 2043. This contract became the basis for the current UK decision to provide financial support.
The allocation of new financing confirms Ukraine’s course toward diversifying nuclear fuel supplies and further strengthening its energy independence from Russia, while ensuring the long-term resilience of the nuclear sector, which remains the country’s main source of electricity.
