Sanctions dismantled into atoms

The United States imposed the first sanctions directly affecting Rosatom’s nuclear projects. Several structures of the state corporation fell under the restrictions, including Rusatom Overseas, which is responsible for promoting Rosatom projects abroad. The restrictions also affected the Kovrov Mechanical Plant and Tochmash, which produce centrifuges for uranium enrichment. Kommersant’s interlocutors believe that until restrictions are imposed on Rosatom itself, individual sanctions against its structures will not be able to have a significant impact on the nuclear business.

USA imposed sanctions in relation to Rusatom Overseas, the structure of Rosatom responsible for the construction of nuclear science and technology centers abroad, follows from the documents of the US Treasury. The president of the enterprise, Yevgeny Pakermanov, also fell under the restrictions.

The company was sanctioned because the company is controlled or acts in the interests of the Russian government and is involved in activities aimed at “supporting Russia’s leading position in the global nuclear market.”

Rusatom Overseas is promoting the line of non-energy solutions of Rosatom to the international market, including in the field of hydrogen energy. Branches are located in Germany, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, but the scale of international activity is small. The revenue of Rusatom Overseas at the end of 2022, according to the accounting records, amounted to only 7 billion rubles, net profit – 1.2 billion rubles. The company’s most famous project in recent years is plans to build a complex for the production of 100 thousand tons of hydrogen per year on Sakhalin in partnership with the French Air Liquide. In addition, Rusatom Overseas oversees the construction of a small nuclear power plant in Yakutia, hoping then to export such solutions. At the same time, Atomstroyexport is responsible for the construction of large nuclear units abroad in Rosatom.

Rosatom did not comment on the imposition of sanctions. Kommersant’s interlocutors in the industry believe that until decisions have been made to impose direct sanctions against Rosatom, smaller restrictions will not have a global impact on the company’s activities. Sanctions will not affect the main international activities of Rosatom, agrees Alexander Uvarov, director of ANO Atominfo-center, editor-in-chief of atominfo.ru.

The Kovrov Mechanical Plant and VPO Tochmash, which are engaged in the production of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, also fell under the new sanctions.

Rosatom is the world’s largest provider of uranium enrichment services (39% of the market), this is the most complex and marginal segment of the nuclear fuel production market. In addition, the Start production association named after M.V. Protsenko and JSC NIKIMT-Atomstroy, which are related to the state defense order in the nuclear sector, were subject to restrictions.

Rosatom is the world’s largest supplier of nuclear reactors and fuel, so the US and EU countries have not yet seriously considered imposing sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry, despite the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Russian nuclear exports have only grown in 2022.

In particular, Rosatom supplies a significant amount of uranium to the United States. In 2021, the state corporation accounted for 17% of total uranium purchases in the US and the EU. In the United States itself, not a single uranium enrichment plant is currently operating; these needs are mainly covered by Rosatom and the European consortium Urenco.

The idea of ​​sanctions against Rosatom began to be discussed as part of the tenth package of EU sanctions, but was not supported by most countries. However, targeted sanctions were introduced against the controlled structures of Rosatom.

For example, in February, the US Treasury already limited the activities of the carbon fiber manufacturer Umatex, which is part of the structure of Rosatom – this company, in particular, produces fiber for the wing of the MS-21 passenger airliner. The UK imposed sanctions on the head of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev and the All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, which is part of the state corporation.

Tatyana Dyatel