Nikolai Martynenko
We continue to investigate the activities of the most notorious members of parliament who have retained their place in the country's legislature. Today, we turn to Mykola Martynenko, the longtime manager of NNEGC Energoatom and the shadow treasurer of Prime Minister Yatsenyuk and his People's Front.
Martynenko's political and financial ties extend back to his involvement in Komsomol privatization, the Lazarenko government's nuclear fuel schemes, and Yushchenko's premiership and presidency. Martynenko also made his mark in the Yanukovych "family" schemes. He even managed to make a name for himself after the victory of the Revolution of Dignity, taking over from Raisa Bogatyreva in organizing shady government procurement of medicines.
THE MAIN "ENERGY NUCLEAR WORKER" OF THE TIMES OF LAZARENKO AND YUSHCHENKO
Martynenko entered the negotiations for lucrative positions on the very first day after Oleksandr Turchynov's appointment as acting speaker of parliament. As a sponsor of the victorious forces, he counted on financial preferences from the new government, believing it was time to pay off his debts. Martynenko's political position was strengthened by Zhvania, who promptly surrendered his Party of Regions membership card and became the main generator of parliamentary support for the new coalition.
There are reports that Martynenko was planning to personally head the government's energy bloc. However, it turned out to be more agile. Yulia Tymoshenko, which pushed through its candidate, Yuri Prodan.
Martynenko made concessions to her on the condition of personnel quotas at state-owned energy companies. Chief among these was NNEGC Energoatom. Martynenko's protégé, Yuriy Nedashkovsky, headed the state-owned company four times. Each of his tenures was marked by corruption scandals related to the controversial and creative misappropriation of budget funds. In March 2014, Nedashkovsky took over the company for the umpteenth time. Experts tried to prevent Martynenko's group from gaining control of the nuclear industry. However, Martynenko unexpectedly found support from Russian lobbyists. They resorted to blackmail, threatening to halt nuclear fuel supplies to Ukraine if Nedashkovsky's appointment was not made.
The Russians' attention to Martynenko's interests is no coincidence. Russian nuclear oligarchs have been dealing with this businessman's companies since his youth in the Komsomol. Back in the 90s, Martynenko profited successfully from brokering operations for Energoatom. His partner Zhvania's Brinkford Trading House paid the Russian TVEL for fuel supplies and, for a huge commission, shipped back the waste. Martynenko's company, Trading House, generously thanked Russian nuclear fuel market operators, who repaid the favor by increasingly involving the company in their schemes. Thus, Martynenko's businesses became tightly integrated into the energy interests of what was then a strategic partner and is now a military aggressor.
Martynenko's golden age began during Lazarenko's premiership. He included him in the working group drafting bills to improve the country's energy supply mechanism. This strengthened his position at the legislative level. Then, the newly minted "atomist" came into the orbit of the then-head of the National Bank, Viktor Yushchenko, with whom Martynenko had established a relationship during the successful collapse of Bank Ukraina. Martynenko's investments in Yushchenko's presidency proved successful. For the entire five years of the "Khoruzhev slacker"'s rule, he controlled Energoatom's financial flows.
300 MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE "MARTYNENKO TOWERS"
The news that Valeriy Yasyuk, former Chairman of the Board of Chornomornaftogaz, has been appointed head of PJSC Ukrtransgaz has not gone unnoticed. After all, he is the main figure in the largest scam in the Ukrainian energy sector, known as "Boyko's Rigs." It was Yasyuk who signed the documents for the acquisition of two offshore drilling platforms, each of which embezzled at least $150 million from the budget.
Yasyuk is a 100% creature of Martynenko and ZhvaniaFor many years, he held senior positions at the Trading House company (beneficiary Martynenko) and Brinkford, which is associated with Zhvania.
It is no secret to experts that the scam "Boyko Towers" should actually be called "Martynenko Towers." After all, Yasiuk pulled it off, inflating the price by $300 million under the cover of the Martynenko-Zhvania group, backed by guarantees from the "family." It was this duo that siphoned off budget funds, putting the rival group of Boyko, the former deputy prime minister for energy, at risk. Thanks to leaked materials and carefully placed accents, Boyko became the scapegoat in the multi-million-dollar scam.
Yasiuk remained safely in office while Boyko hogged the public's attention. This suggests that Martynenko and Zhvania coordinated and carried out the tower operation together with their "family members." And while the opposition, to which Martynenko formally belonged, discussed "impunity," Smartly, the kickback was successfully cashed out and taken out of the country.
MARTYNENKO AND MILLIONS IN DRUG TENDER
The current government has officially acknowledged that key medicine procurement tenders were disrupted in Ukraine in 2014. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people who did not receive the necessary medications on time. On September 30, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed the Minister of Health. Oleg MusiyHis deputy, Ruslan Salyutin, who was responsible for tenders, was fired. Officially, for disrupting tenders for the purchase of medical drugs.
The reason for this breakdown was a conflict between two healthcare business groups: former Minister Musiy and the aforementioned Salyutin, who represented Martynenko's interests in the Ministry. They clashed over millions in kickbacks, ruining government procurement and leaving the country without medicines.
Salyutin had previously worked for Martynenko's businesses and was appointed to the Ministry of Health through Martynenko's personal quota. At the height of the conflict, Musiy accused Martynenko of overseeing Salyutin and the Ministry of Health of being their joint business project. But this didn't save the minister from sinking to the bottom.
Salyutin's failure didn't dampen Martynenko's passion for medicine, and especially for its budgetary resources. He groomed another protégé, Viktor Sirman, a man not far removed from his own business, for whom he actively lobbies with the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people are dying every day due to disrupted tenders for the procurement of medicines. Had the tenders been held on time, they could have lived significantly longer or been cured. But they were unlucky that healthcare officials Martynenko and Musiy were unable to reach an agreement.
NIKOLAI MARTYNENKO: AN OLIGARCH WITH A BUTTON-PUSHING DECLARATION
Essentially, Mykola Martynenko is a classic oligarch. Behind the scenes in the Rada, he's often referred to as a "nuclear oligarch." He possesses colossal financial and industrial resources. For many years, he has effectively controlled the country's strategic nuclear industry. In every party he's ever been involved in (and there are at least six), he's determined the main political alignments. However, Martynenko always positions himself as a rather modest politician, with no particular income or ambitions, and modest resources.
It seems he was embarrassed or afraid of the publicity surrounding his wealth and power. Like the gay thief Alchen from "The Twelve Chairs," who was ashamed to steal. Martynenko's asset declaration is more than modest, considering he is a party "wallet holder" and the de facto owner of Energoatom. In 2013, he declared only a parliamentary salary of 237,000 hryvnias. His wife earned less than a million. According to his asset declaration, Martynenko owns one apartment and a five-year-old Toyota SUV. His wife owns a five-year-old Mercedes. Each has 1,5 million hryvnias in their account.
Overall, such incomes are humiliating for this exceptional family. This is the income of an average MP after two or three years of rigorous button-pushing. We are dealing with a man who has been determining the country's energy policy for many years, and whose views have been heeded by several generations of Ukrainian presidents and prime ministers. Martynenko himself never held high positions, but he always oversaw a number of key areas of budgetary importance. And in Ukrainian reality, this is a prerequisite for oligarchic development and political influence. Therefore, the "nuclear oligarch" Martynenko can certainly be counted among the country's richest people and the most influential figures in the new government.
The material came to the section
SKELET-info
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