Chernobyl Shelter Fund

The Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) was established by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 1997 with the aim of assisting Ukraine in stabilising and environmentally securing the site of the existing shelter over Chornobyl's destroyed reactor 4.

To achieve these objectives, the CSF financed the implementation of the Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP), which was designed to pave the way for the eventual dismantling and decommissioning of the contaminated structure under a national long-term strategy. The initiative to create the CSF was spearheaded by the G7 governments, the European Commission, and Ukraine, and was announced during the 1997 G7 summit in Denver.

 Additional governments expressed their support at subsequent pledging conferences held in New York (1997), Berlin (2000), London (2005), Kiev (April 2011), and London (2015). The primary aim of the SIP was to convert the post-accident "Object Shelter" into a stable and environmentally secure state. A key component of the SIP was the construction of the New Safe Confinement, which was intended to encapsulate the destroyed reactor and the old shelter, thus facilitating the eventual dismantling and decommissioning of the contaminated structure. The CSF has since been closed.

 Contributors to the CSF included Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, donations were made by Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Korea, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Turkey.

 As of end-2023, the fund received more than €1.6 billion from 45 donors. The EBRD allocated €480 million of its own resources to support the implementation of the New Safe Confinement contract at Chornobyl.