Bulgaria is pausing the planned sale of two nuclear reactors, citing investor interest in building AI data centers that would require serious amounts of electricity to operate. Musk and Microsoft are two of the names that have been pitched by a leading political figure in that context.
Sofia decided to sell the Russian-made reactors to Kyiv after Moscow launched its full-scale war on Ukraine three years ago. But amid changing geopolitical winds since Donald Trump’s return to power in the U.S., the Bulgarian government now wants to halt the deal.
Bulgarian officials seek to block sale of Russian nuclear reactors to Ukraine
The ruling coalition in Bulgaria has unexpectedly opted to keep two nuclear reactors, which it previously wanted to sell to Ukraine. The Russian-built equipment, initially intended for Bulgaria’s second nuclear power plant (NPP), has been kept in storage since its acquisition a few years ago.
The future of a decades-old project to construct a new NPP at the Danube, near Belene, frozen indefinitely amid concerns over costs, funding, and dependence on Russian tech and fuel, became even bleaker when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and the West responded with waves of sanctions.
In 2016, Bulgaria paid Russia’s Atomstroyexport company over €600 million for the two VVER-1000 units. Bulgarian governments were weighing between restarting Belene and installing the equipment at the existing Kozloduy NPP when the war eventually convinced Sofia to sell the reactors.
They were offered to Ukraine, which has the appropriate infrastructure for this type of nuclear technology originating in Soviet times. In February 2025, the parliament in Kyiv approved a plan to buy the equipment from Bulgaria and use it to complete two new blocks at its Khmelnytskyi NPP.
However, in a surprise move last week, Bulgarian officials indicated their intention to pause the deal. The pivot comes amid a changing geopolitical environment, rising electricity prices, a nuclear renaissance in Europe, and hopes for fresh investments in computing centers for artificial intelligence (AI).
Bulgaria hopes to attract major investments in AI data centers powered by nuclear energy
The two reactors from the Belene NPP are not for sale right now, according to Boyko Borissov, former prime minister and leader of the center-right GERB party, the largest in the current government coalition. They can be used to power data centers, he suggested in comments to local media on Wednesday.
Borissov claimed that representatives of a “top three investment fund” have reached out and expressed “extraordinary interest in building huge data centers in Bulgaria.” They also asked the country to postpone the reactor sale, he revealed, declining to name the fund.
“I want to speak with President Trump, Elon Musk, Microsoft, Bill Gates. If they’re interested, we can make this happen,” Borissov stated, quoted by the daily Dnevnik. He also recalled that the U.S. sent two delegations to inspect the reactors during President Trump’s first term in office.
“I don’t believe there’s a single Bulgarian who wouldn’t want to have the most powerful AI infrastructure here,” he added, highlighting employment opportunities for those losing jobs in the IT sector and potential profits significantly exceeding the price Bulgaria could get for the units.
Earlier last week, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov broke the news about the agreement within the government to stop the sale of the two reactors to Ukraine, describing it as a “collective decision” of the parties in the ruling coalition.
Zafirov insisted on the need to continue to develop nuclear power in Bulgaria, referring to the Belene equipment as a “key asset” and “part of our energy security and economic independence.” Meanwhile, members of the opposition accused his Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) of pro-Russian motives for the move, which is yet to be officially approved by the parliament.
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This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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