CIB

Political and Power Grids Merge in Vladivostok

Date: 12/15/2021

Author: Kent Moors, Ph.D.


OK, matters are reaching a head in the ongoing negotiations with “mother.” I intend to begin writing editions of the Classified Intelligence Brief Spy Tale series that will be more biting and critical than most of those that have appeared already. This new approach will include some unflattering material on operations run by US intelligence, and upon occasion my involvement in them.

As you might expect, the problem involves those still covering their posteriors. Despite many of these cases being over two decades old, careers and the occasional ongoing project are impacted. Now if there are any bona fide national security concerns emerging from anything that might appear, I have no problem deep sixing the piece. That extends as well to the two elements intel needs to guard carefully – sources and methods.

But the current disagreement goes beyond that. And that has led to an unanticipated consequence. “Mother” along with some other members of the “family” and I will have a meeting this week at a neutral site. In turn, I am folding that session within a trip that began over the weekend to assess some investment opportunities in an out-of-the-way location on the fringe of the US.

Will let you know what happens in due course…on both of these developments

So, this week I am sending along something I wrote during travels outside Moscow. By this point (two decades ago), my overt recognition had become global energy matters. This allowed a broader access to Russia than the academic base that had been my rationale for living in Moscow over several years.

At the time of the tale to follow, many places in Russia were suffering from an outmoded and insufficiently maintained electricity grid. Power was sporadic and it was having a devastating effect on just about everything in a beleaguered economy.

Well, the situation is recurring in 2021 as power outages once again expand in the face of a nasty winter season. And, as the writing below noted twenty years ago, politics is once again accentuating the problem.

This is what I noted then (with photos added):

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I have been on the Russian Pacific coast for 10 days, surveying the shipping infrastructure between the main city of Vladivostok and the major energy export port opening at Nakhodka.  But something else of an energy nature has surfaced while I am here, and it brings into view once again a recurring problem in just about anything happening in Russia these days.

Center of Vladivostok, ca. 2010 photo: eu.public-welfare.com

The negative economic impact of politics.

It hits the average people hardest. Those who have no ability to fight back. Like Nina M.

Nina runs a small clothing shop in Vladivostok, where matters have taken a more serious turn during the past few weeks. She also lives in the building where I have leased a small apartment.

“It is difficult to stay open when it is dark most of the time,” she lamented recently over tea. “People are spending as little time as possible outside their homes and that is not good for business.”

Life is being compounded these days by acute shortages of electricity in this troubled Russian city by the Pacific. Wide areas of Vladivostok, and its population of more than 1 million, are down to a few hours of power a day. For the past two days, my apartment had had none at all.

The problem has been even more acute just north up the coast at Nakhodka, where the workers and residents have been virtually without electricity for weeks.

Port of Nakhodka, ca. 2008 photo: vecteezy.com

Shippers there must rely on privately owned generators, but the problems for what should be a major Asian trading center are piling up.

Vladivostok, whose hilly terrain reminds me of San Francisco, had been one of the most important ports a century ago. Then it was the sole access to all the natural riches housed in the vastness of Siberia.

Possessing an impressive natural harbor and a perfect location for rail lines connecting Russia, China, and Korea, this city should be a commercial dynamo. Instead, it is a crumbling and impoverished example of how much needs to be done in the new Russian economy.

Part of the reason for the power shortages hitting the city is found in the national electricity network itself. But most of the problem resulted from a common source in today’s Russia – politics.

Despite the offshore currents, winter has already hit (it usually sets in late in October). Residents are once again being reminded that their democracy has a way to go before it can be considered “user friendly” The problem is Yevgeny Nazdratenko, the governor of the Maritime (Primorsky) Region in which the city is located and arguably one of the most powerful politicians outside Moscow.

Yevgeny Nazdratenko, 2003 photo: vedomosti.ru

Subtle is not in this guy’s vocabulary. He has twice rigged Vladivostok elections to guarantee one of his cronies gets elected. When he attempted to take over a major shipping line, he sent police into the representative office of foreign shareholders to arrest anybody who objected

Irina Gleneva, editor of a local newspaper, published verbatim transcripts of telephone conversations among people including the governor who were allegedly conspiring to rig contracts and eliminate competition. In response, the governor had her arrested and imprisoned without charge, court hearing, or any possibility of appeal.

But it is the electricity situation that remains the most outlandish example of Nazdratenko’s love of absolute rule.

The  national power grid, Unified Energy Systems, has charged management of the local power producer, Dalenergo, with gross incompetence and squandering precious funds needed to buy fuel for production. All of these charming folks are appointed by the governor. Few, of any, had any prior experience in running a power company.

Estimates put the amount of missing funds at no less than half of the fuel budget. But the governor has refused to allow any audits of accounts and has threatened to prevent any attempt at removing current management from their positions.

There are few in Vladivostok who will comment publicly on the governor out of fear over his reputation for quick and brutal retaliation against opponents. Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin attempted to remove him several times and failed. Nazdratenko is certainly a survivor.

But the darkness engulfing Vladivostok as winter churns on may be more than people will tolerate. Current President Vladimir Putin has thus far stayed out of the local political mess but may not be able to do so much longer.

Nina provided what may be the saddest commentary on a popular system of government that has yet to prove itself. “This is a city were crime rules,” she confided during our conversation. “Maybe somebody in that line of work can figure out what to do with our ‘beloved’ governor.”

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Nazdratenko subsequently resigned on February 5, 2001, shortly after I wrote the above piece. It was said he left office because of a heart attack but speculation was rampant that the energy crisis was the reason. He was never charged and the money he siphoned was never recovered. Later, Putin appointed him deputy director of the Security Council of Russia. Nazdratenko is still alive (about to turn 73) and has his hand in a number of questionable endeavors.

Meanwhile, procedures were revised to provide presidential control over the appointment of governors. But Putin never took any action against Nazdratenko or, for that matter, against any of the regional heads who followed him, all of whom were hand picked by Nazdratenko (although one did have his “election” annulled when more votes were counted than cast).

The dirt this guy has on national politicians must be quite something.

Dr. Kent Moors


This is an installment of Classified Intelligence Brief, your guide to what’s really happening behind the headlines… and how to profit from it. Dr. Kent Moors served the United States for 30 years as one of the most highly decorated intelligence operatives alive today (including THREE Presidential commendations).

After moving through the inner circles of royalty, oligarchs, billionaires, and the uber-rich, he discovered some of the most important secrets regarding finance, geo-politics, and business. As a result, he built one of the most impressive rolodexes in the world. His insights and network of contacts took him from a Vietnam veteran to becoming one of the globe’s most sought after consultants, with clients including six of the largest energy companies and the United States government.

Now, Dr. Moors is sharing his proprietary research every week…knowledge filtered through his decades as an internationally recognized professor and scholar, intelligence operative, business consultant, investor, and geo-political “troubleshooter.” This publication is designed to give you an insider’s view of what is really happening on the geo-political stage.

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