15.04.2010
One of the key challenges that humanity will face in the near future is the depletion of oil and gas reserves, energy basis of our civilization on planet Earth. Development of nuclear energy and nuclear engineering makes it possible to solve this acute problem. Knowing this, U.S. President Barack Obama urged to abandon the previously imposed restrictions on the establishment of nuclear power plants and to begin their mass construction. Prior to that, 103 NPPs were built in the U.S. In France, 59 nuclear power plants produce 76% electricity. China plans to build more than 100 nuclear power plants in a very short period of time. Mass construction of nuclear power plants is planned in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East, as well as in Europe and the CIS.
Our country used to be the world’s leader of nuclear power and it still possesses breakthrough technologies in this area. Unfortunately, after 1991 construction of new NPPs in Russia was stopped. Today it became apparent that the decision was erroneous. This is why Russian President Dmitry Medvedev named nuclear power among priority directions of the country’s economy modernization. According to the plan of socio-economic development up to 2020, about 30 next generation nuclear power blocks must come into operation in Russia alone.
On 18.03.2010 the second power block of Rostov NPP has been launched. Prime Minister V.V. Putin was personally present on this important ceremony. It is not clear, though, why wasn’t Putin shown the nuclear engineering flagship Atommash that was in Volgodonsk, just 14 km away from the Rostov NPP. As a matter of fact, this NPP was primarily constructed for the sake of ensuring uninterrupted energy supply to Atommash even when it’s working on full capacity. For reference: Soviet Union spent 12 billion rubles on the construction of the nuclear engineering flagship Atommash OJSC with respective infrastructure. According to the official Bank of Russia exchange rate on 01.01.1981, this corresponded to 17.8 billion U.S. dollars. The inflation factor of the U.S. dollar on 01.01.2010, over 30 years, is 6.9.
Thus, it is not a coincidence that, eleven days before to Putin’s visit to Volgodonsk, a dozen “provocative sites” on the Internet, including www.tuapse.ru, simultaneously posted a false and absurd letter of SEA TRUST Ltd. about the activity of YACONTO LLC, which is a legal successor of the company that owned 28.5% share of Atommash OJSC. More detailed information (in Russian) about the provocative letter can be found in the “Tuapse bug” article and other articles of the “False investors and false partners – OCG” section of www.yaconto.ru. There can be only one meaning for this: someone was gravely concerned that YACONTO LLC can utilize Putin’s visit to Volgodonsk. In order to prevent that, “concerned parties” decided to compromise YACONTO LLC before Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in advance.
Meanwhile, the condition of Russian nuclear industry continues to cause serious concern. That’s why the article “Atommash is no longer ours?” by Valentin Abramtsev published in the “Soviet Russia” newspaper on 14.01.2010 is so interesting. Former Deputy Minister of power engineering of USSR Valery Pershin spoke in detail about this topic in his article of “Not at atom of effect” published on 04.02.2010. He knows the background of the unique Production Association Atommash, built in Volgodonsk city of Rostov region, better than anyone else, since he used to be a CEO of this nuclear industry giant from 1978 to 1986. Pershin also provided information about Atommash that people currently tend to gloss over or belittle deliberately. Only a powerful state that possessed scientific and technical achievements in the nuclear industry could have been capable of constructing such an unmatched production site.
Understanding the importance of an enterprise like Atommash OJSC to the country, and understanding public reaction to its fate, Deputy of the Russian State Duma Anatoly Lisitsyn sent a letter (ref. LIS-767/GD of 25.12.2009) to the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, asking to conduct an independent investigation of the bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC on the basis of the audit conducted by the Audit Chamber and the Definition issued by its College. The letter was distributed to respective agencies. Replies received from them uncovered much interesting and strange in the points of view of several agencies when it comes to protection of state interests. The reasons for such duality in the positions of officials are understandable and, in general, explainable. An unbiased and thorough investigation of the process of deliberate bankruptcy of Russia’s nuclear industry giant will inevitably unveil unpleasant facts of criminal activity of a number of officials, some of who even today occupy very high positions in the state hierarchy or in highly profitable commercial entities.
In particular, the top management of State Corporation Rosatom headed by Sergey Kiriyenko occupied a clearly ambivalent position. On one hand, it seemingly “shares our concern” about the fate of Atommash, but on the other hand it is evidently reluctant to come back to the topic of its bankruptcy, referring to an argument that, according to the Arbitration Procedure Code of RF, Rosatom has no right to apply for review of the decision of the Court on recognition of Atommash OJSC bankrupt. At the same time, Rosatom functionaries apparently decided that it’s their duty to “indicate” to other state authorities their ‘opinion’ that none of them, allegedly, has the right to initiate a review of the decision of the Arbitrary Court of Rostov region due to the expiration of statute of limitations for review of those judicial acts in force. In addition, the expiration of statute of limitations allegedly prevents the State from reviewing the decision of the Court despite newly discovered evidence, even if the criminal investigation will reveal criminal actions of specific individuals in bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC.
Rosatom as a State Corporation should have been pushing hard for returning the illegally seized property to the State, and the same applies for Federal Agency for State Property Management, which has significant authority over the management of state property. Hence, the excuses for anti-state crimes and crimes against state property (with respect to state-owned 30% shares of Atommash OJSC) provided by Rosatom officials through judicially incorrect references to expirations of the statute of limitations are nothing but a testimony to the desire of hypocritical and cynical functionaries to close the ‘scandalous’ topic of illegality of bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC and illegal appropriation of its assets by certain “beneficiaries”. The reason for that is a desire of the management of Rosatom to carry out a “yet another carving up” of the industrial complex previously owned by Atommash, for the benefit of the OGIO (organized group of interested officials). This OGIO includes: a group of Rosatom officials headed by Sergey Kiriyenko, their “monopoly business partners” and their “patrons”.
As a result of the anti-state activity of an Organized criminal group (OCG) members, the unique industrial complex of Atommash OJSC, as well as multiple industrial enterprises of the Energomash Group in cities of Barnaul, Belgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chekhov, Engels, found itself owned by Company “Energomash” UK Ltd., registered in the United Kingdom. The company has an authorized capital of 158.000 U.S. dollars, while the real value of Russian industrial enterprises belonging to it amounts to tens of billions of U.S. dollars. Over 90% of the company is owned by a single Russian citizen A.Y. Stepanov – the former bankruptcy referee of Atommash OJSC who directly participated in its bankruptcy case, seizure of the assets and the liquidation of the nuclear industry giant.
For reference: the Arbitration Court of Rostov region appointed A.Y. Stepanov bankruptcy referee of Atommash OJSC. At the same time A.Y. Stepanov was the head of Energomashcorporatsiya OJSC. Hence, this appointment violated the antitrust policy and legislation of Russian Federation, as Energomashcorporatsiya OJSC was a direct competitor of Atommash OJSC. With the deliberate connivance of corrupt officials the State has suffered tremendous damage, while the functionaries of Rosatom refer to the State’s lack of “certain” rights and powers to find and punish the perpetrators, who are already long known to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of Russia. What is this – incompetence of the functionaries or interests of corrupt officials?
In contrast to State Corporation Rosatom, Russian Ministry of Economic Development demonstrated a more constructive attitude in its Letter to the Russian State Duma (out. №1824-AP/D06 from 11.02.2010). In particular, the letter stated that due to the deprivation of the State of its 30% interest and the “golden share” of Atommash OJSC, the prosecutor may appeal to the Court with a claim for recognition of the transactions by state companies invalid. The letter also explains the consequences of the invalidity of a void transaction. If the Court recognizes the transactions related to receiving loans and sale of Atommash’s property invalid, the decision to recognize it bankrupt may be revised by new circumstances. Functionaries of Rosatom stubbornly ignore the fact that the statute of limitations on grave crimes against the interests of the state (15 years) has not yet expired. Moreover, the statute of limitations in the case of deliberate bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC could not have possibly expired because no criminal proceedings were instituted in the first place; all attempts to initiate criminal proceedings were clogged in the most stringent manner based on fake documents, and the results of auditing conducted by the Audit Chamber of Russia have been concealed as if they had never existed. That’s why it is essential that the Investigative Committee of Russia conducted an independent investigation of the Atommash bankruptcy fraud using the materials of the Account Chamber of Russia, which conducted the auditing upon the orders of the Committee for industry, construction, transport and high-end technologies of the State Duma of Russia (out. №3.11-21/1312 from 21.10.2000).
EMK-Atommash JSC (the key beneficiary of the bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC), together with Energomash Group, having received loans of over 30 billion rubles allegedly for an implementation of promising projects and programs, used them inappropriately, at the discretion of some “interested persons”. Therefore, the loans were not intended for funding of production activities of the enterprises, under the assets of which those loans have been received. The bigger part of the earmarked loans has been issued by Sberbank of Russia. Oddly enough, but it’s the management of “Sberbank” (with a controlling stake held by the State) and Rosatom (which is actively preparing for corporatization in the interests of its “creators”) that showed no interest in investigating the bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC. And the loan of U.S. $365 million issued by the Kazakh “BTA-Bank” to A.Y. Stepanov in 2008 through an offshore structure “Rolls Finance” Ltd., didn’t serve the declared purpose either. It’s no wonder that the High Court of England and Wales sentenced A.Y. Stepanov in absentia to two years in prison for contempt of Court, which was presented false documents in the proceedings at the suit of the Kazakh “BTA Bank”. Unfortunately, there is no respective agreement on extradition between Russia and UK.
“Concerned parties” decided to protect themselves in Russia in advance by another bankruptcy – this time, of EMK-Atommash JSC itself which, together with Energomash-Atommash LLC, is a part of the Energomash Group. To make this happen, OGIO and OCG members do their best to prevent the return (via a legal confiscation) of property illegally seized by Stepanov to the State and compensations for damage dealt to Russia. The functionaries are trying to come with Stepanov to an agreement, behind closed doors, that the state-controlled structure buys out the former state-owned property on conditions beneficial for corrupt officials. Confidential negotiations on a “retrocession” of the Atommash OJSC industrial complex to the OGIO members are conducted, led by Kiriyenko. But at the same time, the government will yet again suffer economic damage and it will, as always, receive the “donut hole”, while the “donut” itself and the super-profit will be obtained by the OGIO and OCG members.
In its cautious reply (out. №16/2-4315-07 of 01.02.2010) to the Russian State Duma, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia indicated that the Investigative department of Volgodonsk police conducted a verification of the bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC. But the police disregarded the materials of the Audit Chamber of Russian Federation, therefore, the resolution “not to institute criminal proceedings” was cancelled and an additional verification was prescribed. However, the latter gave no results either, which testifies to the necessity of an independent and meticulous investigation of the premeditated bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC. Unfortunately, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia have different interpretations of article 52 of Arbitration Procedure Code of RF. It gives comfort to the criminals and their corrupt accomplices from law enforcement and judicial authorities who interpret the law in their own interests.
Another artificial bankruptcy is being carefully planned – this time, of the Energomash Group itself. It’s planned with the involvement of “mighty patrons” who remain in the shadows, being inaccessible to Russian law enforcement agencies due to their status and position in the hierarchy of power. Liquid assets of the Energomash Group and huge loans taken against those assets are actually taken away from state control through crafty combinations and schemes. And this is despite the fact that the competent authorities have accumulated quite a number of questions on the Energomash Group.
The question remains unanswered: which government authority will bring a lawsuit for the deliberate bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC and for causing enormous material losses to the State, and who exactly will be sued, if the Energomash Group is artificially bankrupted and its real proprietors, not “dummy” owners, will be released from liability? Therefore, the Investigative Committee of Russia and their subordinate structures, under the supervision of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia, should use the materials and professional assistance of the Audit Chamber of Russia during their investigation of the bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC. Only joint actions of the officials who intend to conduct an objective investigation will bring to justice those responsible for causing multi-billion dollar damage to the State, Atommash and its shareholders.
We have to ask seemingly obvious questions. Who if not the State itself is supposed to stop the crimes against the State itself? Why do the officials and the “ruling elite” who are obliged to protect Russia’s interests, avoid taking action to restore the rule of Law and justice instead? Why have the officials been doing everything possible to oppose the revision of the bankruptcy case of Atommash OJSC, allowing the production complex to move from one supposedly “bona fide” purchaser to another, for more than ten years? And why should such officials even bother about fighting corruption, if nobody coerces them to abide Law?
Illegal activity of A.Y. Stepanov and his seizure of Atommash OJSC and other Russian companies were only made possible with the help of OCG members and their “patrons”. Even today they, who brutally violate the Law, remain “invincible”. A.Y. Stepanov has inflicted colossal material damage to Russia, a great deal more than Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Besides, not everything can be measured by faceless numbers which corrupt officials can manipulate masterfully. How can we explain the fact that A.Y. Stepanov received enormous loans against the obscenely discounted assets of the already bankrupted Atommash OJSC, using artful schemes and scams? And that’s while there’s much talk with obvious indignation going on about foreign countries applying “double standards” for Russia. The fact that in Russia itself, same “double standards” have become a norm of Law and morality, is being ignored. Deliberate bankruptcy of the nuclear engineering flagship Atommash OJSC is a crime against public interests, unparalleled in its scale. It’s a matter of economic, energy and national security – therefore, a political will and involvement of the most senior leadership of Russia is required to take necessary actions for investigating the bankruptcy of Atommash OJSC. Above all, we need an intervention from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
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Note: the article “Nuclear passions around ATOMMASH”, first posted on 15.04.2010 on www.yaconto.ru, became a prototype of the article “Like a Nuclear decay” (in Russian) published in the independent public newspaper “Soviet Russia” №40 (13402) on 17.04.2010 with the consent of, and in the wording of YACONTO LLC. The article “Like a Nuclear decay” was signed by Deputies of the Russian State Duma Mr. Anatoly Lokot and Mr. Vadim Solovyov (CPRF faction) and a friend of Vladimir Putin – Mr. Vasily Shestakov (‘A Just Russia’ faction). Completely sharing the opinion and rigorous actions of the Deputy of the Russian State Duma Mr. Anatoly Lisitsyn (‘United Russia’ faction) supported his positive activity reflected in the “Like a Nuclear decay” article. What’s unique about the fact that the article was published in the “Soviet Russia” newspaper is that the original, well-reasoned article of YACONTO LLC united prominent representatives of the three leading parties of Russian Parliament, which compete with each other but are unanimous when it comes to the evaluation of the bankruptcy and restoration of the status-quo of Atommash OJSC in the interests of the state and thousands of shareholders of Russia’s nuclear engineering flagship.