Energoatom is a state-owned energy generating enterprise, the stable operation of which determines whether there will be warmth and light in the homes of Ukrainians. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the work of this strategic enterprise has been significantly complicated by massive Russian attacks. But along with the devotion of power engineers, there remains a place for corruption scandals in the activities of Energoatom. Both before the “big” war and during it.
From 2020 until now, Energoatom has been headed by Petr Kotin. In a new investigation, “Schemes” tell how the mother-in-law of the head of this state-owned enterprise acquired luxury real estate and land near Kiev during the war - officially without any income of her own. And now Peter Kotin himself has settled in a house with a swimming pool on the property for almost 7 million hryvnia.
House for 6 and a half million with a swimming pool
Elite village in the Kyiv region. A service Mercedes is heading to one of the private houses.
And leaves in half an hour. But this car is already near the Energoatom office.
This is a company Mercedes, driven by the president of the state enterprise, Petr Kotin.
“Schemes” managed to identify this house using an open public account on the social network of his daughter. She regularly posts photos and videos from there.
So, in June 2023, a summer gazebo and a trimmed lawn were noticed on the territory of the house.
Another photo of Kotin's daughter, published at the end of August, shows that a swimming pool is being installed on the property.
By October it was completely equipped.
The official owner of this property is the 70-year-old mother-in-law of the head of Energoatom. In 2023, she purchased a house with a total area of 288 square meters and a plot of land underneath it.
This is a two-story house, which also has access to a private lake, access to which is open only to residents of the cottage town.
How much did the mother-in-law of the President of Energoatom manage to purchase such a house and the land under it?
Journalists managed to obtain a purchase and sale agreement for this property dated June 8, 2023. According to the document, the estate with an area of almost 300 square meters and the land underneath it cost Kotin’s 70-year-old relative a total of almost 7 million hryvnia.
Of these, 6 and a half million for a house and 350 thousand for land.
In the same locality, a similar estate with a slightly larger area, but without access to water, was put up for sale this summer for 350 thousand dollars - that’s more than 13 million. That is, twice as expensive as the mother-in-law’s house where Pyotr Kotin and his family live.
In November, final preparations for the winter period were noticed on the territory of this house.
During this period, Kotin’s daughter again published a video, which once again helped to confirm that Kotin’s family lived there. The freeze frame shows the same building on the territory of the land plot. And here is another photo - this is exactly that house.
Kotin’s relative acquired both the land and the estate during the period when her son-in-law headed Energoatom. But that's not all real estate.
30 acres in an elite village
In another elite village in the Kyiv region, Kotin’s mother-in-law has a plot of land with access to the water, surrounded by a fence. It is divided into three sections of different sizes - four, eight and eighteen acres. A total of thirty – that is, almost a third of a hectare.
According to the purchase and sale agreements that Schemes received at their disposal, the owner of all three plots is the mother-in-law of the president of Energoatom. She purchased them on one day - March 2, 2021.
The smallest of them cost her 150 thousand hryvnia, and the largest - 670 thousand. In total, she then paid about 40 thousand dollars for this property, which in Ukrainian currency is more than a million hryvnia.
According to the agreement, the largest plot was sold immediately with a garden house, which is also visible using the Google Earth Pro service.
But then the building was demolished and, obviously, they planned to build something bigger. From the satellite you can see the outlined foundation of the future building, next to which there is something similar to a construction trailer.
Probably, the beginning of a full-scale invasion made adjustments to the construction plans, because work here has not continued since then.
“Schemes” drew attention to the cost of the plots purchased by Kotin’s mother-in-law. According to advertisements on specialized websites, one hundred square meters of land in that area in the winter of 2021 cost from 2.5 to 5 thousand dollars. Thus, 30 acres of land could then cost twice or even three times more: from 75 to 150 thousand dollars.
Would the official income of Kotin's mother-in-law be enough to pay for all this real estate in the Kyiv region?
As Schemes managed to find out, the woman primarily worked at semi-state enterprises, in particular at the Zaporozhye Thermal Power Plant. In total, from 2000 to 2009, Kotin’s mother-in-law received 79 thousand hryvnia in salary. Now she is probably receiving pension payments.
Journalists did not find a business for Kotin’s 70-year-old mother-in-law, nor did they find any other property that could be sold.
“Schemes” contacted her and her husband by phone. Journalists do not name their names or show their faces at the request of Kotin himself. When asked about the source of funds for this property, the mother-in-law of the President of Energoatom replied that she could not talk and hung up.
Her husband, that is, Kotin’s father-in-law, received 128 thousand hryvnia in salary before his retirement - in the period from 2000 to 2009.
In a conversation with reporters, the husband first stated that he did not know who Peter Kotin was.
– Perhaps Pyotr Kotin helped buy all these estates where he lives now? - journalist Georgy Shabaev asked Kotin’s father-in-law.
“I don’t know any Sobakin,” the man answered.
“No, Petra Kotina,” the journalist clarified.
- I don’t know that.
– President of Energoatom.
- I don’t know that.
But then I remembered.
“This is your son-in-law...” the Schemes journalist repeated.
- So what? – answered Kotin’s father-in-law.
- And you don’t know who it is?
- I know, well, so what?
– At first you said that you didn’t know, but now you know.
– I’m simply answering you the way you ask me a question, with a catch.
The husband stated that his wife worked all her life, so she could afford such property. Just like him.
– I just looked at your official income, they did not exceed 150 thousand hryvnia. You are apparently receiving a pension now, but still, how were you able to earn a total of 8 million hryvnia to buy both land and a house? – asked the journalist.
“I’m telling you again, I’ve probably been living in this world for a long time,” answered Kotin’s father-in-law.
“We also looked at the neighboring plots, and the cost of all this property is generally twice as expensive.
– You know, I’m not going to answer a trick question. That's it, goodbye.
Perhaps Kotin’s wife, Natalya, has an income level sufficient to purchase luxury real estate? But according to the official's public declarations, Natalya Kotina had neither savings nor salary to help her mother buy all this property.
“Schemes” went to Pyotr Kotin to ask about his relative’s purchase of elite property at the height of the “big” war - where, in particular, the president of Energoatom now lives. About the sources of funds for it. And finally, will the official indicate this property in his declaration for 2023?
The film crew met Kotin near the state-owned enterprise, but he did not want to talk to reporters, saying that he was in a hurry to a meeting.
– Tell me, please, where did your mother-in-law get the money to buy the house where you live now? – asked Schemes journalist Georgy Shabaev.
“Sorry, I have a conference call right now, I can’t give you time,” the head of Energoatom said briefly, and went into the building.
The second attempt was also unsuccessful. Seeing the journalists, the official began to run.
Already on the eve of the publication of this material, journalists received a written response to the request from Kotin. In it, the head of the state-owned enterprise named several sources of funds, which allowed his mother-in-law to purchase the above-mentioned property. In particular, these are, according to him, the savings of her family “for more than 50 years of working activity”; cash belonging to her close relatives, who entrusted her with taking her out of the occupied territories, as well as borrowed funds - counting on the future sale of property that is currently under occupation.
“According to her, the main reason for her decision was the reasonable prices at which the previous owners offered the property for sale. At that time, these prices corresponded to current market conditions, taking into account the status and condition of the property,” Kotin noted in his response to Schemes.
In particular, he noted that one of the land plots was “in a neglected state”, “no one had used it for many years”, and due to the “high groundwater level” there was “no possibility for construction” on it. Kotin assured that the land was put up for sale.
As for the plot with a house in another village in the Kiev region, which in total cost the government official’s mother-in-law 7 million hryvnia, he noted that the price “was determined by the previous owner taking into account the emergency condition of the plot and its desolation due to problems with soil landslides.”
The President of Energoatom also admitted: “I really visit this premises and do not hide this information. What I indicated will be indicated in the declaration, the deadline for filing which has not yet arrived,” he noted in a written response.
New old boss?
Energoatom generates more than half of all electricity produced in the state, operating four operating nuclear power plants. Among them is the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant captured by the Russian army.
Petr Kotin has been leading Energoatom since 2020. And since then, the work of the enterprise under his leadership has often come into the focus of attention of both law enforcement officers and investigative journalists.
Almost immediately after Kotin took up his duties as president of Energoatom, Slidstvo.Info journalists found out that his son was running a company that was suspected of embezzling funds from the state-owned enterprise itself.
“Schemes” also talked about problems in the construction of a storage facility for storing spent nuclear fuel from Ukrainian nuclear power plants and the likely waste of public funds. Then Pyotr Kotin did not want to comment on the facts found.
Suspicions of corruption accompany the state-owned enterprise even during a full-scale Russian invasion.
We are talking about Energoatom tenders for the purchase of construction materials, in particular reinforcement, concrete and cables. In some places, their purchase price was significantly inflated.
Investigative journalist for the publication “Our Money” Yuri Nikolov says: “We did very simple things, we took their estimates and market prices - a simple banal comparison showed that the prices here were simply twice as high.”
These purchases are now also being handled by a special temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada, which is checking overpayments at Energoatom tenders.
Energoatom itself claims that the purchase amount has already been reduced for some contracts, one agreement has been cancelled, and the circumstances for the rest are being clarified.
At the end of December, according to Schemes, Petr Kotin’s contract with Energoatom expires. But it may be extended.
In parallel, a large energy-generating state-owned enterprise, according to the law, must be transformed into a joint-stock company.
When this happens, according to our information, Petr Kotin has every chance of becoming the head of an already reformed enterprise. This will be determined separately by the Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting.
Will government members pay attention to numerous investigations by journalists? Will a strategically important enterprise be headed by a specialist with an impeccable business reputation without blemishes in his biography?
