The Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom is funneling hundreds of millions of euros in profits through a Dutch subsidiary, according to a report by NOS based
on the annual report of Uranium One Coöperatief, an Amsterdam-based subsidiary.
Despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Europe and other Western countries remain heavily dependent on the Russian uranium sector and have so far refrained from imposing sanctions on Rosatom. The company holds a 35 percent share of the global market for enriched uranium and plays a significant role in nuclear energy. Additionally, Rosatom is involved in managing the captured Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Rosatom uses its Dutch subsidiary to extract nuclear raw materials from Kazakhstan and Tanzania. The profits from these operations are routed through the Netherlands before being transferred to Russia. In 2022, the Dutch subsidiary reported a profit of $240.6 million, or €222 million, with tens of millions of that amount being sent to the Russian parent company.
"Russia is a major player in the nuclear sector," a spokesperson for Urenco, a Dutch company involved in uranium enrichment, told NOS. The spokesperson noted that Western companies are increasingly distancing themselves from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, leading to a rise in demand for uranium enrichment services at Urenco.
However, completely replacing Russia's role in the nuclear supply chain remains a challenge. Russia currently has a monopoly on recycling used uranium, and several former Soviet bloc countries, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland, still rely on Russian fuel rods for their nuclear power plants.
Research by the Norwegian environmental organization Bellona revealed that European imports of nuclear fuel from Russia doubled last year. Russian uranium continues to find its way into the Netherlands, with the Dutch Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) granting several permits in February for the import of recycled Russian nuclear fuel destined for Urenco in Almelo. Photo by Sergey Norin from Moscow, Russia, Wikimedia commons.