A firm linked to laundering Russian money secured a multimillion-dollar state contract for DniproHES. "Ukrhydroenergo" has responded to the situation.

This is reported by Financial Times.

The publication noted that recently, U.S. sanctions targeted Latvian citizen Andrejs Bradenes (also known as Andrejs Karenoks). The U.S. Treasury Department accused him of having connections with several companies belonging to the TGR group — an international network that enables Russian elites to circumvent international sanctions.

The head of TGR is said to be a certain George Rossi — a native of Russia with Ukrainian citizenship. Consequently, Rossi, Bradenes, and several other Russian citizens have been included in the sanctions list.

FT claims that Bradenes is the owner of the Turkish company ALTAIR LOJISTIK, which won a tender from "Ukrhydroenergo" in 2023 worth over 868 million hryvnias. This involves the supply of cables for the construction of an underground protective facility for the Dnipro HPP, as noted on the Prozorro platform.

The publication states that “awarding such a sensitive government contract to a company owned by a person currently under sanctions for managing a multi-billion dollar money laundering network used by Russian spies is likely to pose a troubling security issue for Kyiv.”

What did "Ukrhydroenergo" say?

"Ukrhydroenergo" confirmed the signing of a contract with the Turkish company. However, they assert that this procurement “does not pertain to the construction of any protective facility, as some sources claim.”

The company emphasizes that at the time of the contract signing, neither the Turkish firm nor Bradenes were under sanctions, and the counterparties were thoroughly vetted for connections with Russia.

Although Bradenes is currently under sanctions, the company ALTAIR LOJISTIK is not listed in any sanctions lists. However, "Ukrhydroenergo" assured that they immediately began conducting additional checks. Based on their results, “appropriate measures will be taken in accordance with the existing contract and the legislation of Ukraine.”