Brussels, 23/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has just approved a EUR 18m contribution for 2003 in order to contribute to massive protective measures at Chernobyl following the Ukrainian nuclear plant disaster. The Chernobyl Shelter Fund, which is administered and managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was constituted at the end of 1997 in order to implement a project to transform the existing sarcophagus into a safe and environmentally stable system. At the second pledging Conference held in Berlin in July 2000, the European Community (EC) pledged €100m to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund to be paid in four instalments over the years 2001-2004. The Commission has recently approved payment of the third instalment of €18m as the EC contribution for 2003. The first two instalments were for €40m (2001) and €20m (2002). Before 2000, the EC had already contributed €90.5m. Donors could soon be called on to contribute more. The EBRD has confirmed to the Contributors that the project has a certain delay due to its complexity and the completion date initially set for 2007 cannot be maintained. The delays have also increased the total cost of the and additional works will be necessary. The EBRD expects the information relating to a more exact estimate of the additional budget and schedule delays to be available shortly.