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A London-based businessman has won a Ukrainian state contract to help defend a key power plant from Russian attacks while secretly helping Moscow’s intelligence services launder money and evade sanctions, investigators and tender documents show.
Andrejs Bradens, a Latvian citizen living in London who calls himself an “international entrepreneur,” also worked with companies that helped Moscow procure sanctioned electronics during its invasion of Ukraine.
Awarding such a sensitive state contract to a company owned by an individual now under sanctions for running a billion-dollar money laundering network used by Russian spies is likely to be an embarrassing security problem for Kiev.
Bradens, who also goes by the name Andrejs Carenoks, was on Wednesday sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for his role in a money laundering network that, according to the U.K. National Crime Agency, “was used to Russian espionage operations‘ and also helps the European cocaine barons.
Ukrainian government tenders Research by the Financial Times shows that a Turkish company owned by Bradens was awarded a $23.4 million contract in March by Ukrhydroenergo, the country’s largest hydropower company.
The contract concerned cables and other components that are part of a project to build underground structures to protect the Dnipro hydroelectric power station in southeastern Ukraine from Russian air attacks.
The factory, which spans the Dnipro River near the city of Zaporizhia, has suffered serious damage from several rocket attacks this year, according to authorities.
Bradens did not respond to questions from the FT.
Ukrhydroenergo confirmed the contract with Bradens’ company and said the project “is being executed in accordance with the conditions specified in the contract.” The contract states that all goods must be delivered and the work must be completed by the end of this year.
Ukrhydroenergo said Bradens was not under sanctions during the “tender period and at the time the contract was concluded.” It said that before approving contracts, it conducts “a thorough check of counterparties for ties with the aggressor country,” referring to Russia.
After being informed of the sanctions against Bradens, Ukrhydroenergo said it had “begun carrying out additional checks, based on the results of which measures will be taken in accordance with the current contract and legislation of Ukraine.”
Russia has damaged, destroyed or occupied more than half of Ukraine’s power generation capacity since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. But it has expanded its missile and drone campaign in recent months, with the destruction causing severe power shortages ahead of the crisis. coldest days of winter.
Defense structures like those outlined in Bradens’ contract are critical to Ukraine’s efforts to protect its key facilities. Qatar-mediated discussions between Kiev and Moscow on halting attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure have not been successful.
The city of Dnipro, 80 km upstream from the power plant, is the industrial Ukrainian city where Moscow fired its experimental hypersonic missile “Oreshnik” last month.
Bradens’ Turkish company, Altair Lojistik Ve Ticaret, is not subject to Western sanctions. Braden lists himself on his LinkedIn profile as president of the company. Turkish company documents list Braden as chairman and sole owner of the company. Altair Lojistik did not respond to questions from the FT.
British company records show Bradens is a director of several active companies with offices in London, including TGR Corporate Concierge, which was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday.
The US also imposed sanctions on a Thai company called Siam Expert Trading Company, which it said was “associated with Braden” for facilitating the export of electronic components to Russia.
FT analysis of Russian export data shows that Siam Expert Trading has shipped numerous goods this year to the US-sanctioned Russian company Tornetcom, which supplies the state with data processing systems and other technology.