Le PROJET SIP
INTRODUCTION  

Following the accident of 26 April 1986 the Shelter enclosing the remains of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) Unit 4 was constructed under exceedingly hazardous conditions. The Shelter was never intended to be a permanent solution and it is increasingly unstable. Water is seeping into the structure, and there is a risk of collapse and of radioactive contamination of the Dnipro river basin. This danger will persist until the highly radioactive material contained, inadequately, under the Shelter is permanently isolated from the environment.

  
In May 1997 a multidisciplinary construction management program was finalized, designated as the Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP foresees to carry out remedial work on the Shelter directed towards making it physically safe and environmentally stable. Under the management of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) has been constituted, to finance the SIP. The CSF entered legally into force upon the approval by the EBRD Board of Directors of the CSF Rules of 6 November 1997. A framework agreement between Ukraine and the EBRD relating to the activities of the CSF in Ukraine was signed on 20 November 1997. It has been approved by the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada, on 4 February 1998.  
The initial cost estimate of the project for the period 1998-2005 amounts to approximately USD 758 million (SIP estimate, USD 768 million including the licensing support). So far nearly USD 400 million have been pledged by 25 countries and the European Community of which Ukraine has pledged USD 50 million as an in-kind contribution.  
Council Decision 98/381/EC of 5 June 1998 concerning the Community contribution to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Chernobyl Shelter Fund represents the legal basis for a Community contribution to the CSF of (maximum) EUR 100 million, corresponding to a USD 100 million pledge made at the 1997 G7 summit in Denver. This is to be paid over the years 1998/99 within the TACIS financial envelope. The first part of the Community contribution of EUR 50 million (USD 58 million) was transferred to the EBRD in December 1998.  
The present communication gives a progress report on the implementation of the CSF, as foreseen in Article 3(2) Decision 98/381/EC. It addresses furthermore the guidelines established in the Report of the Member of European Parliament, Mr. Adam. Beyond that, this Communication provides the information requested by the Budgetary Authority to free the amount put in the reserve.
According to its obligations, the Community has to transfer to the CSF in 1999 the second part of its contribution, the equivalent of USD 42 million. The EU budget foresees for this purpose in line B7-536 EUR 25 million which are put under reserve. For the remaining amount, the budget foresees recourse to line B7-520 "Assistance to economic reform and recovery in the New Independent States and Mongolia".
Considering that most of the other donors have already paid their obligations or will do so in 1999, and having regard to the progress of the implementation of the CSF as outlined below in this report, the Commission takes the view that the conditions for transferring the funds from the reserve to line B7-536 are fulfilled. The Budgetary Authority will therefore be asked to approve the relevant transfer proposals which the Commission will present soon.

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