How Russia prepared to seize Ukraine’s nuclear energy. Part 1: Derkach’s Twelve

How Russia prepared to seize Ukraine’s nuclear energy. Part 1: Derkach’s Twelve

January 21, 2025 │

The Galushchenko Appointment: Scandals and Suspicious Connections In the spring of 2020, a new team (consisting of Galushchenko, Kotin, Hartmut, and Boyaryntsev) was appointed at the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom, which is associated with the controversial former deputy Andrii Derkach. A year ago, the frontman of this team, German Galushchenko, was promoted and appointed as the Minister of Energy of Ukraine. Throughout this time, the work of Ukraine’s nuclear industry complex has been accompanied by constant scandals: sabotage of the construction of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, manipulations in the electricity market, multimillion losses confirmed by auditors, the actual bankruptcy of the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant company, scandals related to the procurement of parts from Russia, and so on. Is it betrayal or mere coincidence? Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector has historically been formed as part of the union’s nuclear-industrial complex and has numerous economic, technological, and professional ties to the State Corporation Rosatom as the legal successor of the USSR Ministry of Medium Machine-Building Industry. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s domestic nuclear sector not only became a coveted piece and market for sales but also a competitor in the global markets. That is why Russia, throughout the entire period of Ukrainian independence, has used all levers of influence to prevent Ukraine from getting rid of dependence in this field. Derkach’s Rise: The 2006 KGB Graduate Takes Control Back in 2006, after the political “pirouette” of Oleksandr Moroz and the formation of a new government led by Viktor Yanukovych, a young and promising leader, a graduate of the Higher School of the KGB, Andrii Derkach, was appointed as the president of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom, representing the quota of the Socialist Party of Ukraine. Afterwards, the years 2006-2007 were very fruitful in terms of cooperation between the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom and the Federal Atomic Energy Agency of the Russian Federation (later reorganized into the State Corporation Rosatom). An important element of this cooperation was the signing of a long-term contract with Fuel Company TVEL (a subsidiary of the State Corporation Rosatom), based on the “Methodology for Forming Prices for Fresh Nuclear Fuel” for Ukrainian NPPs. This allowed for the calculation of the cost “in accordance with the available trends in the world market of services and...

How the West loses to Russia in energy sanctions

How the West loses to Russia in energy sanctions

August 1, 2023 │

Western countries fought so vigorously against “oil” dictators in Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Venezuela that they failed to notice the biggest one right under their noses. The USA, UK, and EU not only bought Russian oil and gas for decades but also built pipelines, displacing other importers in favor of the Kremlin, and helped the latter to acquire extraction and transportation technologies. On the second year of the major energy sanctions against Russia, there are countless gaps, not just loopholes. The imposed oil embargo and price restrictions on black gold are not fully effective, and natural gas remains completely unaffected by sanctions. The sanction standoff increasingly resembles a race in which the winner will be the one two steps ahead of the opponent. The outcome of this competition is evident: Russia maintains its main source of income, and the energy sanctions have no impact on the Kremlin’s desire to end the conflict. Sanctions were late twice Until 2014, the servicing of deep oil and gas wells in Russia was largely dependent on four American companies. As disclosed by a former employee of Halliburton’s Russian division, they sometimes had to complete complex wells with the help of local contractors because they couldn’t handle it alone. Thus, it was possible to put pressure on Russians as early as 2014 by forcing these companies to leave Russia. However, there was a lack of political will to do so. The imposed sanctions proved to be insufficiently strong to cause significant damage to Russia, but they were enough to make the Kremlin prepare for truly serious blows. After the annexation of Crimea, Russians immediately launched an import substitution program. In 2014, their capabilities could provide only 20% of the required equipment for well processing, and by 2019, it increased to 50%. American companies continued to process Russian wells and cultivate drilling specialists in Russia through modern training centers. Source: Economichna Pravda Western companies also helped Putin’s regime master liquefied natural gas (LNG) technologies, allowing Russia to transport gas by tankers worldwide and reduce its reliance on pipelines to the EU. The largest LNG projects in Russia, Sakhalin-II and Yamal LNG, were realized thanks to Western technological licenses. Shares in these projects were purchased by French, British, and Japanese companies. Until 2022, Western countries supplied equipment and materials for oil processing. Annual contracts worth billions...

Section: Energy

How Russia prepared to seize Ukraine’s nuclear energy. Part 1: Derkach’s Twelve

Jan21

How Russia prepared to seize Ukraine’s nuclear energy. Part 1: Derkach’s Twelve

January 21, 2025 │

The Galushchenko Appointment: Scandals and Suspicious Connections In the spring of 2020, a new team (consisting of Galushchenko, Kotin, Hartmut, and Boyaryntsev) was appointed at the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom, which is associated with the controversial former deputy Andrii Derkach. A year ago, the frontman of this...

How the West loses to Russia in energy sanctions

Aug01

How the West loses to Russia in energy sanctions

August 1, 2023 │

Western countries fought so vigorously against “oil” dictators in Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Venezuela that they failed to notice the biggest one right under their noses. The USA, UK, and EU not only bought Russian oil and gas for decades but also built pipelines, displacing other importers in favor of the Kremlin, and helped the latter...

Who supports Russia in France?

Feb09

Who supports Russia in France?

February 9, 2023 │

Who supports Russia in France? From the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was an almost unequivocal consensus in French politics to condemn the aggression. Any justification of Russia’s actions by party leaders would be considered political suicide. However, the level of support which France should provide...

War for the Arctic or energy sabotage: why Russian spies have become more active in Norway

Nov24

War for the Arctic or energy sabotage: why Russian spies have become more active in Norway

November 24, 2022 │

Scandinavia was covered by a wave of reports about Russian espionage even before the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. The collective “Lubyanka” [a metonym that is often used in informal journalistic and colloquial speech to collectively refer to the state security bodies of the USSR and the Russian Federation, in...