Germany will contribute €50 million to help Ukraine repair the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil announced on Friday. The pledge forms part of a growing international Chernobyl repair funding drive after the damage to the plant’s protective arch, the New Safe Confinement, which Ukrainian officials say was caused by a drone strike in February 2025. Klingbeil said the contribution still requires approval from the German parliament, which is expected to decide by mid-November.
FAKTA: Key facts
- Germany’s pledge: €50 million (around $56 million) toward Chernobyl repairs
- Announced by: German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, on Friday 16 October 2026
- Approval: German parliamentary vote expected by mid-November
- G7 total raised: €260 million, announced by French Finance Minister Roland Lescure in Bangkok
- Estimated full recovery cost: around €500 million
- Next step: international donor conference in Paris on 9 November
What the Chernobyl repair funding covers
The New Safe Confinement – the giant steel arch slid into place over the destroyed reactor in 2019 – shields the radioactive remains of the 1986 disaster and allows the safe dismantling of the original shelter. Ukrainian officials say a drone strike in February 2025 breached the arch’s inner and outer cladding, damaged critical systems and compromised its protective functions. The International Atomic Energy Agency said radiation levels at the site remained within normal limits after the strike, but engineers warn that the structure must be restored by 2030 to limit corrosion of the steel and preserve its intended one-hundred-year working life.
G7 partners join the effort
France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure announced on Thursday in Bangkok, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank autumn meetings, that the Group of Seven had raised €260 million for the urgent repairs. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development expressed deep concern about the nuclear-safety risk created by the damage and will co-organise a donor conference in Paris on 9 November together with France and Ukraine to gather more contributions. Britain has separately committed £17 million toward the repairs, alongside support from the United States and France.
Why the repairs cannot wait
Restoring the confinement to full functionality is estimated to cost at least €500 million, and international partners are under pressure to close the gap between pledges and the real bill. Follow this developing story on Watan News International. The arch is the only barrier containing the highly radioactive wreckage of Reactor Four, and its deterioration would create a nuclear-safety risk far beyond Ukraine’s borders. For Berlin, Friday’s pledge is a signal that European governments intend to keep the repair programme funded despite the strain of supporting Ukraine on several fronts at once.
