Table of Contents
See previous part: How Russia prepared to seize Ukraine’s nuclear energy. Part 6: Destroying the Kharkiv Energy Institute
The gray cardinal: Myronyuk’s invisible control over Ukraine’s energy
In the seventh part of the story, the author will reveal to you the system of current money laundering schemes at the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom and prepare your fragile consciousness for the “explosive” information in the eighth part.
It’s time to tell you more about the “gray cardinal” who discreetly leaves no traces behind but confidently holds all the power in the energy sector. The author has already touched upon this person in the previous part, so he will continue discussing his role further.
Ihor Myronyuk, at first glance, appears to be a regular advisor to the president of Energoatom, and moreover, on public grounds. However, on the other hand, Ihor Mykolayovych is a trusted person of Andrii Derkach with responsibilities for controlling all managerial decisions, all financial and business processes, and also serves as the final authority for personnel appointments not only within Energoatom but also within the Ministry of Energy named after Galushchenko.
Mironyuk was appointed by Derkach as a member of the Supervisory Board of the National Energy Company of Ukraine in 2013-2014, which, in our times, facilitated all the “bloody exports” (as the author mentioned in the fifth part of the story). Simultaneously, until 2021, he had the unofficial right to visit the office of Energoatom and actively participate in closed meetings organized by Derkach’s criminal group, including Galushchenko (back then, as Vice President), Kotin, Boyaryntsev, and others. Starting from 2021 (after Halushchenko’s appointment as Minister of Energy), Myronyuk occupied his former office, where Derkach himself used to sit. This office is quite interesting — it is located on the 6th floor, has a glass roof, and has direct access to the 2nd floor of Kotin’s two-story office. In other words, everything is arranged in such a way that no one can see that these two individuals have the opportunity to communicate without witnesses. So, you understand who actually assigns tasks to whom, right?
Thus, Derkach comfortably retains full control over Ukraine’s energy sector, even after being stripped of citizenship and under pressure from American sanctions because Myronyuk can be trusted implicitly. Igor Mykolayovych’s determination and vigilant control can be compared to the grip of a pitbull, ensuring that no one involved in the energy sector moves without his approval.
While the handling of Ukrainian funds is clear, Myronyuk appointed his son, Artur Ihorovych Myronyuk, to the Department of Project Coordination for Technical Assistance at Energoatom. Artur was responsible for implementing projects to enhance nuclear power plant safety, developing projects, and procuring systems and equipment funded by international donors (he resigned two months ago by his own will). Therefore, the Myronyuks have both understanding and access to documentation related to physical security and access systems of nuclear power plants. Moreover, they cleverly exploit international resources.
Before the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukrainian territory, Igor Myronyuk actively visited Russia and Belarus on official visits, indicating that he had a clear understanding and awareness of the impending events.
Eternal contracts: the advance payment scam that never delivers
Thus, new schemes emerged within Energoatom. One of them is the “eternal contracts” scheme… How does it work? It’s quite simple…
The separate division Atomproektengineering of Energoatom, conducts a tender, for example, for the procurement of lifting and transportation equipment for the radioactive waste processing complex (https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2021-09-16-004269-c). The winning bidder is the company LLC Pidyomspetstekhnika, with which Energoatom signs a contract on October 27, 2021, and immediately pays a 50% advance payment of the contract value. Interestingly, the contract is valid until February 28, 2022, but no goods are ever delivered within the stipulated timeframe. In May 2022, it is realized that the contract has not been fulfilled and the deadlines have expired. As a result, on May 5, 2022, an additional agreement is signed to extend the terms of the main contract until August 23, 2022. There was no mention whatsoever of the enforcement of fines and penalties as stipulated in the contract (which contradicts the main idea). And so, Energoatom waited and waited for its cranes, even reporting in the Prozorro system that the contract had been fully executed by February 28, 2022, and making full payment to the supplier for the contract value, but the cranes were still not delivered. The deadlines of the additional agreement expired once again, and it took the management of Energoatom another two months to wake up and enter into another additional agreement on October 25, 2022, extending the terms until November 7, 2022, but still, the cranes were not there and they never will be because all the money went down the drain, and the contract was closed in Prozorro.
Or, for example, the tender for the procurement of low-voltage electrical equipment (https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2021-06-22-001508-a). The winner of this “hellish battle” was JSC Research and Production Enterprise Radium with whom a contract was signed on November 12, 2021, and what was the first thing done? That’s right — an advance payment was made. Following the established scheme, without receiving the goods (equipment) by December 31, 2021, an additional agreement was only concluded on June 13, 2022, to extend the delivery terms. Then, on October 25, 2022, another agreement was made and then again on January 19, 2023, and, of course, there is still no sign of the goods. It would be logical to expect an increase in the contract value since prices are rising every day, and here we are talking about years. Furthermore, the incompetent State Audit Service of Ukraine disrupted the plans with their implementation, and they demand explanations as to “why it’s so expensive?” because from the very beginning, the intention was to purchase at twice the price of the contracted value.
Or, another “greedier” case is the procurement of additional construction works for the radioactive waste processing complex (https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2021-07-21-006097-b). Due to the intrusive State Audit Service of Ukraine, which constantly interferes in matters that are not its concern, the management of Energoatom decided to procure the construction works through a negotiated procedure because there is “only one” construction company in Ukraine, and auctions are “very expensive for their own pockets.” The blatant interests were covered up by the “necessity of additional works” by the previous contractor, without any supporting evidence of these so-called additional works: no expert/technical confirmations, no scope of work, no justification of costs, nothing. Just a need for money and the more, the better! The enraged State Audit Service of Ukraine records the violations, but the management of Energoatom couldn’t care less and continues to “work according to the contract.
By the way, the scheme remains unchanged — a contract is signed on August 19, 2021, and an advance payment of 35.7 million UAH (972, 000 USD) is immediately made (which, by the way, is not specified in the procedure’s terms), followed by the familiar pattern of contract extensions. Just before the contract expiration, an additional agreement is concluded on December 29, 2021, to extend the terms. Then, on August 8, 2022, they decide not only to extend the contract duration but also to index the value by 1.02 million UAH (27, 000 USD) because why not? Subsequently, through an additional agreement dated August 22, 2022, equipment substitution is made, and with another additional agreement on November 3, 2022, they once again stretch the terms. However, as the saying goes, a bad dancer always has something getting in their way, so on December 15, 2022, the terms are stretched once again, and the pretext is the same everywhere — the war. Yes, the war supposedly hinders the delivery of spare parts for the equipment, the installation of the products, and the completion of the works, etc. However, the war does not hinder the signing of contracts and making advance payments — force majeure circumstances do not affect that! So, for some, it’s war, and for others, it’s a motherland.
It is evident that they don’t send the “productive cow” to the slaughter; they milk it. Over time, contract indexation can be carried out, additional advances can be given without demanding their return, or “permanent additional needs” can be created, along with many other scenarios. The main thing is that the daily flow of money continues, and the successors will deal with the problems.
As for the oversight bodies, representatives of Derkach’s team put something heavy on them because Myronyuk’s brother, Dmytro Mykolaiovych, will cover any legal issues for the management of Energoatom. It should be noted that Dmytro Myronyuk is a trusted person of Pavlo Vovk, the same head of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv, who is so influential that a separate law had to be passed by the President and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to remove him from office. Accordingly, this Court was liquidated (its judicial proceedings were terminated on December 15, 2022).
With such a sense of impunity, it is difficult to stop even during peacetime, and after the start of the active stage of Russian aggression (from February 24, 2022), they completely forgot about any restraints.
Occupied Zaporizhzhia: establishing an economic headquarters under Russian control
In early March 2022, after the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by Russia, Derkach’s team immediately established an economic headquarters there, operating without control, rules, or laws.
Suddenly, urgent needs arose at the occupied nuclear power plant for the updating of project data, engineering, retrofitting, repairs, and other astronomical services, such as:
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-04-29-000176-c
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-05-12-002427-a
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-05-02-000578-c
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-06-10-003820-a
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-03-30-000213-a
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-11-29-007470-a
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-04-29-000516-a
Humanitarian aid fraud: 100% embezzlement with a charitable facade
Equally cynical is the money laundering through humanitarian aid provided by Energoatom for the needs of the nuclear power plants.
Under the guise of receiving spare parts and materials as aid, parallel procurements were published and carried out, meaning that in these cases, money was simply embezzled with a useful action coefficient of 100%, for example:
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-11-01-004183-a
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-11-16-000494-a
- https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2022-11-16-000494-a
In response to the senseless inquiries from other participants regarding the impossibility of providing services, supplying goods, or performing work in an area that is under constant shelling, not controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and occupied by Russian troops, Derkach’s team responds with silent irony and continues its operations.
The order of Energoatom dated June 30, 2022, No. 01-389-n, along with its 182-page Appendix, is worth mentioning. The Appendix contains a list of procurements that are allowed to be conducted without using the electronic Prozorro system, and 76 pages of the list specifically pertain to the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Moreover, this list was pre-approved by the Minister of Energy, Galushchenko, and classified as confidential.
No one will be able to verify the remaining inventory or determine the extent of the damages after the occupation, unlike other “eternal” contracts that are in effect in Ukraine, as information about them is recorded in the SAP R3 system, which only widens the warehouse gap.
But there is no need to worry too much because the corporatization project of Energoatom is moving full steam ahead, and all the tracks will be covered, with the losses will be borne by the state in other words, by Ukrainians.
And here arises a bunch of questions: Is this an audacious money laundering scheme? Is it direct confirmation of collaboration with Rosatom? Who controls the delivery of equipment to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and under what agreements? Does Rosatom actually supply the equipment as “humanitarian aid,” while the declared amounts simply end up in pockets that serve anti-Ukrainian activities?
Perhaps it’s time for German Galushchenko to go to Vienna.
Originally posted by Victor Kurtev on Hvylya. Translated and edited by UaPosition
