Nikolay Martynenko
We continue to investigate the activities of the most odious representatives of the parliamentary corps, who have retained their “registration” in the country’s legislative body. Today we turn to Nikolai Martynenko, the long-time manager of NNEGC Energoatom and the shadow treasurer of Prime Minister Yatsenyuk and his Popular Front.
Martynenko’s political and financial trail stretches back to the times of his participation in Komsomol privatization, nuclear fuel schemes of the Lazarenko government, as well as Yushchenko’s premiership and presidency. Martynenko was also noted in the schemes of Yanukovych’s “family”. He managed to make an ugly appearance even after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity, taking the baton from Raisa Bogatyreva in organizing shadow government procurement of medicines.
CHIEF “ENERGOATOMIC” WORKER IN THE TIMES OF LAZARENKO AND YUSHCHENKO
Martynenko entered into the negotiation process on grain positions on the very first day after the appointment of A. Turchinov as acting. heads of parliament. As a sponsor of the victorious forces, he counted on the financial preferences of the new government, believing that the time had come to pay off debts. Martynenko’s political positions were strengthened by Zhvania, who promptly handed over his party card to the Party of Regions, and became the main generator of parliamentary carcasses for the new coalition.
There is information that Martynenko was going to personally head the government’s energy block. However, Yulia Tymoshenko turned out to be quicker, pushing through her candidate, Yuriy Prodan.
Martynenko made concessions to her under the condition of personnel quotas in state energy companies. The main one is NNEGC Energoatom. Martynenko’s protégé Yuri Nedashkovsky headed the state-owned company four different times. Each of his arrivals was accompanied by corruption scandals related to the controversial and creative use of budget money. In March 2014, Nedashkovsky headed the company once again. Experts tried to prevent Martynenko’s group from managing the nuclear industry. However, Martynenko was unexpectedly supported by lobbyists from Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). There they used blackmail, threatening to stop the supply of nuclear fuel to Ukraine if they refused to appoint Nedashkovsky.
The attention of Russians to Martynenko’s interests is not accidental. Russian nuclear oligarchs have been dealing with the structures of this businessman since his Komsomol youth. Back in the 90s, Martynenko successfully made money from the intermediary operations of Energoatom. The Brinkford trading house of his partner Zhvania paid Russian TVEL for fuel supplies and took back the waste for huge commissions. Martynenko’s company “Trading House” generously thanked the Russian operators of the nuclear fuel market, for which they did not remain in debt, involving it deeper and deeper into their schemes. Thus, Martynenko’s business structures turned out to be tightly integrated into the energy interests of what was then a strategic partner, and now a military aggressor.
Martynenko’s golden time came during Lazarenko’s premiership. He included him in the working group to prepare bills to improve the mechanism for providing the country with energy resources. Thus, he strengthened his position at the legislative level. Next, the then head of the National Bank, Viktor Yushchenko, with whom Martynenko established relations during the successful collapse of Bank Ukraina, fell into the orbit of the newly minted “atomic specialist”. Martynenko’s investment in Yushchenko’s presidency proved successful. During all five years of management of the “Khoruzhevsky slacker”, he controlled the financial flows of Energoatom.
300 MILLION DOLLARS FROM “MARTYNENKO RIGHTS”
The news that PJSC Ukrtransgaz was headed by the ex-chairman of the board of Chernomorneftegaz Valery Yasyuk did not go unnoticed. After all, this is the main person involved in the largest scam in the Ukrainian energy sector, known as “Boiko Towers”. It was Yasyuk who signed documents on the acquisition of two offshore drilling platforms, for each of which at least $150 million was stolen from the budget.
Yasyuk is a 100% creation of Martynenko and Zhvania. For many years he held senior positions in the Trading House company (beneficiary – Martynenko) and Brinkford, which is associated with Zhvania.
It is no secret to experts that the Boyko Tower scam should actually be called the Martynenko Tower scam. After all, Yasyuk pulled it off by inflating the price by $300 million under the cover of the Martynenko-Zhvania group, reinforced by the guarantees of the “family.” It was this duo who withdrew budget money, putting the rival group of Boyko, the former deputy prime minister for energy issues, under attack. Thanks to the materials “leaked” by journalists and precisely placed accents, he became a “scapegoat” in a multimillion-dollar scam.
Yasyuk safely remained in office while Boyko was drawing public attention. This suggests that Martynenko-Zhvania coordinated and carried out the operation with the towers together with the “family” ones. And while the opposition, to which Martynenko formally belonged, was discussing Boyko’s “impunity,” the kickback was successfully cashed and taken out of the country.
MARTYNENKO AND MILLIONS IN DRUG TENDERS
The current government has officially admitted that key tenders for the purchase of medicines were disrupted in Ukraine in 2014. The result of this is the death of hundreds of people who did not receive the necessary medications on time. On September 30, the Cabinet of Ministers removed the head of the Ministry of Health Oleg Musiy from his post. His deputy, Ruslan Salyutin, who was responsible for conducting tenders, was fired. Officially – for disrupting tenders for the purchase of medical supplies.
The reason for this breakdown is the conflict between two business groups from medicine: ex-Minister Musiya and the already mentioned Salyutin, who represented Martynenko’s interests in the Ministry. They clashed in the fight for millions of kickbacks, failing government procurement and leaving the country without medicines.
Salyutin was previously an employee of Martynenko’s business structures and ended up in the Ministry of Health under his personal quota. Already at the peak of the conflict, Musiy called Martynenko looking after Salyutin, and the Ministry of Health – their joint business project. But this did not save the minister from sinking to the bottom.
Salyutin’s failure did not cool Martynenko’s passion for medicine, and especially for its budgetary resources. He prepared another protégé for the position – Victor Sirman, a man not far from his own business, whom he actively lobbies to the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, due to the failure of tenders for the purchase of medicines, hundreds of people die every day. If tenders had been carried out on time, they could have lived much longer or been cured. But they were unlucky that medical officials Martynenko and Musiy could not agree.
NIKOLAY MARTYNENKO: OLIGARCH WITH A KNOPKODAVA DECLARATION
In fact, Nikolai Martynenko is a classic oligarch. On the sidelines of the Rada one can hear “nuclear oligarch” addressed to him. It has enormous financial and industrial resources. In fact, for many years he has been controlling the nuclear industry, which is strategic for the country. In all the parties in which he set foot (and there were at least six of them), he determined the main political alignments. However, at the same time, Martynenko always positions himself as a rather modest politician. Without much income or ambitions, with modest capabilities.
It seems that he was embarrassed or afraid of the publicity of his wealth and power. Like the blue thief Alchen from “12 Chairs”, who was ashamed to steal. Martynenko’s declaration is more than modest, both for the party “wallet” and the actual owner of Energoatom. In 2013, he declared only a deputy’s salary of 237 thousand hryvnia. His wife earned less than a million. According to the declaration, Martynenko owns one apartment and a five-year-old Toyota jeep. His wife has a five-year-old Mercedes. Each person has 1.5 million hryvnia in their account.
In general, such income is humiliating for this outstanding family in all respects. This is the wealth of the average deputy after two or three years of pushing buttons. We are dealing with a man who has been determining the country’s energy policy for many years, to whom several generations of Ukrainian presidents and prime ministers listen. Martynenko himself never held major positions, but always controlled a number of key areas of budgetary value. And this, in Ukrainian realities, is a condition for oligarchic formation and political influence. Therefore, the “nuclear oligarch” Martynenko can definitely be included in the ranks of the richest people in the country and the most influential persons of the new government.
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