The nuclear company Westinghouse went bankrupt. Nuclear impotence: how Rosatom's main competitor went bankrupt

The headlines of our big news agencies in recent days have literally been full of “sensational” headlines on the same topic: “Westinghouse, which supplies Ukraine with nuclear fuel, has been decided to be declared bankrupt”, “Energy company Westinghouse has begun bankruptcy proceedings”, “American Westinghouse Electric will go bankrupt”. And in almost every such message, there are reminders of how relations developed in the Energoatom-Rosatom-Westinghouse triangle, which read as a hint that Russian readers may begin to rejoice at the problems of an American company.

The mention of article 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code is also strictly obligatory, and without a single attempt to explain what kind of article it is, why it is used and to whom, in fact, it is beneficial. Analysis of the news is a boring business, blowing away the touch of sensationalism, and even making the text more cumbersome.

And there is only one news agency that ventured to cover this topic a little earlier than the last decade of March.

“... the current owner of the company is Toshiba Corporation, which is increasingly interested in only one thing: to sell in order to improve its faltering business. Sell ​​it so that you never get involved again, because in Japan itself nuclear power plants do not work, the construction of new ones is not visible in any perspective. Sell ​​right now, while you can get a decent price and save your more promising directions.

This is a direct quote from an article published on February 3 this year. Regnum turned out to be the only news agency that decided that the analysis of the situation and the attempt at forecasting made by the journal Geoenergetika deserve the attention of readers. The same article looked at possible bidders to buy Westinghouse:

“Among those who could qualify for the purchase, observers name the Japanese corporation MHI. The difficulty, however, is that MHI has partnerships with the French and is even trying to develop the ATMEA-1 generation III+ light water reactor project with them. Another possible candidate is KEPCO from South Korea. South Korean enterprises are among the suppliers for units with AP-1000. In addition, it is known that KEPCO is negotiating to become an investor in a project to build the Moorside nuclear power plant in the UK with AP-1000 reactors. But KEPCO has its own successful APR-1400 reactor project, and it is not known whether the South Korean company needs control of a rival project. It should also be added that KEPCO prefers caution in the nuclear business and does not like risky deals, and the purchase of Westinghouse will certainly be just that.

A small analysis was also made of what Westinghouse has in its assets and what is in its liabilities.

“The option to sell Westinghouse is the most logical, because all Toshiba's problems are related to this particular structural unit. And there is no buyer. The company, which owns 31% of the world market for nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants, has no buyers due to problems associated with unsuccessful attempts to build III+ reactors. And there is no one to really bring the AR-1000 technology to mind. But if a buyer is found, not only problems will go to him, but also fuel production plants, and contracts for the supply of this fuel, and contracts for the deactivation of decommissioned reactors in several countries, including the United States. ... the planned [for 2017] profit on the supply of fuel and services for nuclear power plants was provided at the level of $3.5 billion per year. The planned profit for the decommissioning and deactivation of nuclear power plants is another 266.5 million dollars annually. As a result, if suddenly there is a risk-taking buyer at Westinghouse, then the project may turn out to be profitable.”

You can read our February article in full here:

The only thing that is missing in our February forecast is reflections on the features of that same Article 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The main reason why this was not done is the size of this article, which is more than one and a half pages of text. But, since there is nothing sensational in the reports of the impending bankruptcy of Westinghouse for the analytical magazine Geoenergetika and the news agency Regnum, let's try to analyze this news not to "shout", but to analyze it.

It is necessary to build on the fact that the initiator of the bankruptcy proceedings of an American company was not initiated by any of the third-party creditors, namely Toshiba, the parent company that owns 87% of Westinghouse shares, and this was done precisely on the basis of Article 11. And this article provides for the voluntary declaration of bankruptcy , which is possible only under one condition - the written consent of creditors, which account for at least 66.6% of the debt obligations of a voluntary bankrupt. These creditors have the right to create a committee-commission as a body that will conduct the bankruptcy procedure. Of course, we do not have a list of those companies that Westinghouse Electric owes money to, but there is no doubt that this list is headed by Toshiba, which regularly "supported" in all cases when, due to sluggishness in the construction of new NPP units, an American company was subject to penalties. And, since it was Toshiba who initiated the bankruptcy proceedings, there is no doubt that her lawyers accurately calculated that she would be in charge of the bankruptcy.

The Japanese situation is so critical that there is simply no room for error. Recall that the authorized capital of the Japanese corporation is 3.3 billion dollars, and the amount of losses, according to preliminary estimates, is at least 5 billion, not counting the upcoming costs of the bankruptcy procedure. The goal that Toshiba sets for itself was described by us back in February: “throw off liabilities, leave assets”. With the help of bankruptcy, abandon all unprofitable contracts, leave only those that bring guaranteed profits - only in this case Westinghouse will become an attractive object of sale, only then you can try to get an amount for it that will solve at least part of the financial problems of the parent company. And the Japanese do not care in the deepest way what problems will arise for all those who signed contracts with Westinghouse for the construction of new nuclear power plants, regardless of how serious such customers are. Blocks 3 and 4 under construction at Vogtle NPP, blocks 2 and 3 at V.S. NPP will hang in the air. Summer in the USA, blocks at the Sanmen NPP and Saiyan NPP in China, or customers somehow get out - not Toshiba's problem. Did Westinghouse win a tender to build 6 AP-1000 reactors in India just recently? It’s also not a question - let the Indians come up with something. Planning a project in the UK? Well, it didn’t work out - it doesn’t happen to anyone.

Westinghouse project construction site, Photo: japantimes.co.jp

Against such a background, write and implicitly offer to rejoice over the problems that Ukrainian Energoatom could potentially have? Excuse me, but where is the reason for such gloating, what is the benefit of Russia in general and Rosatom in particular from the beginning controlled bankruptcy of Westinghouse? Let's try to find one, if it exists at all.

Let's assume that Toshiba's lawyers are right, that everything works out as planned and that the result is a company that is obviously profitable with some fancy new name, as was the case with the American Enrichment Company, which, having gone through "bankruptcy -11", is now called not USEC (US Enrichment Company), but Centrus Energy. As a result of bankruptcy, we will see the company “Successful Hara-Kiri-2017”, the proud owner of factories for the production of nuclear fuel, factories for the production of service equipment for nuclear power plants, and so on. Who can become a buyer of such an obviously profitable holding? Yes, in fact, any company that has the money for such an investment that bargains with Toshiba on price. But with two small reservations - this company cannot have Russian or Chinese "citizenship". Indeed, in such a deal relating to the sale of technologies that are critical to the national security of the state, the right of "veto" belongs to the US state. Donald Trump doesn’t read either Geoenergy or Regnum, he is now even afraid of the word “Russia” - the poor fellow was simply pecked with constant reproaches for even showing signs of respect for our country, he has already overslept the “big deal”. China is the main competitor, there are no options here either.

Donald Ivanovich Trump, Fig.: http://i2.cdn.turner.com

So, the most optimistic option for Russia is that Westinghouse will be bought by a moneybag company. In this case, nothing will change for Russia at all. The Americans put pressure on Energoatom, pushing their fuel into the reactors of nuclear power plants - now they will put pressure on them, but in a wrapper from the Germans, Zimbabians or some kind of Congolese. But there is an option and much more pessimistic. Recall that until recently the unspoken "big nuclear three" consisted of Westinghouse, AREVA and Rosatom. With an American company, it is clear that the French are currently restructuring their nuclear company, thereby helping it avoid bankruptcy. At the same time, Rosatom did not take any subversive or sabotage actions against competitors, they ruined themselves completely independently before our eyes. You don’t need to do anything but look for good words about the “dead”, the dominant position simply goes into the hands of the only company from the “big three” that did not get into any adventures, but continued to do its job, preserving and increasing the magnificent heritage of the Minsredmash of the times THE USSR. Will anyone, except Russia itself, be satisfied with its dominant position in one of the most high-tech markets? With the current number of "violent well-wishers" - a rhetorical question. No no and one more time no. Can Russia be left without competitors? Yes, such an idea for the West, full of sympathy for us, is like a red rag for a bull! First of all, the Americans themselves will try to create such a competitor, taking advantage of every opportunity.

And there is an opportunity, even if she is now busy solving problems around the post of her president. Who are we about? Yes, about South Korea and KERSO (Korea Electric Power Corp.), of course. Who does not know what it is, can just look at Wikipedia, everything is very eloquent there.

“In early 2010, South Korea won its first export order, four APR-1400 reactors for the UAE. The head of the energy corporation of the United Arab Emirates said:

“We were impressed with the world-class safety performance of the KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corp.) team, which has demonstrated the ability to achieve the goals of the UAE program”

Today, the designs of nuclear power plants in South Korea are among the most efficient and advanced in the world. The APR-1400 has 40 percent more installed capacity than previous models and many new safety features. Fuel costs for the APR-1400 are 23 percent lower than for the French company Areva's EPR reactor, considered the world's most advanced reactor, according to the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The government is also planning to develop a new nuclear power plant design that will have a 10 percent higher capacity and a better safety rating than the APR-1400. South Korean nuclear power plants currently operate with an installed capacity utilization factor (ICUF) of 93.4 percent, which is higher than that of plants in the US (89.9%), France (76.1%) and Japan (59.2%). South Korean nuclear power plants consistently exhibit the lowest outage rate in the world; this record is largely due to highly standardized plant design and operating procedures. The APR-1400 is designed, engineered, built and operated in accordance with the latest international safety regulations, including crash safety.”

Nuclear reactor APR-1400 (KEPCO, South Korea)

South Korea has its own nuclear engineering, is able to design and build nuclear power plants, and is developing a reactor design that fully complies with the generation III+ of the IAEA standard. Now imagine that KERSO would be further strengthened by all of Westinghouse's assets. Represented? We are sure that in this case you agreed with our opinion: we see a new powerful competitor to Rosatom, whose fight against us will be supported by all those who dream of a "Russian economy torn to shreds." Koreans don't have the money for such a deal? Name any major US bank and you'll hit a potential lender. In general, the managed bankruptcy of Westinghouse and the potential sale of the company to the South Koreans is the most pessimistic version of events unfolding around Toshiba for Russia. And the most optimistic - no changes, the company "Successful hara-kiri-2017" continues to produce and supply fuel for 31% of the market, continues to produce service and transport equipment, is preparing to fulfill contracts for the decontamination of nuclear sites, preventing Rosatom from breaking into these segments. The bravura tone of informational messages about the bankruptcy of Westinghouse, in our opinion, is just evidence of an incomplete understanding of the essence of the upcoming event, nothing more.

In contact with

), a subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba, has filed for bankruptcy. In a statement, the company said it had lost money on construction projects in South Carolina and Georgia, although it said nuclear fuel and plant maintenance operations were still quite profitable.

The cause of the incident was cost overruns and delays in the construction of nuclear power plants, which included Generation III +APP1000 reactors with simplified design and safety equipment that should have made installation, operation and maintenance easier and cheaper. The new design was also supposed to make the reactor more resistant to earthquakes, plane crashes and power outages.

Both projects - in South Carolina and Georgia - are already overdue by almost three years and cost from 1 to 1.3 billion dollars. This is much more than expected. These projects include the construction of Alvin W. Vogtle generating stations in Georgia and Southgate Gas & Electric's Virgil C. Summer installation in Jenkysville, South Carolina.

The New York Times attributes the long lead times and cost overruns to contractors' inexperience and how few new nuclear power plants were built in previous decades. At the same time, Westinghouse is not solely responsible for the missed deadlines: while Toshiba's subsidiary was responsible for the design of the reactor, S & W was responsible for the construction on site. This is stated in the Westinghouse court documentation.

Delays were inevitable: Westinghouse claims safety regulations were put in place to prevent terrorist attacks on nuclear reactors that forced the company to re-plan and re-license both plants, which created additional unforeseen engineering problems that pushed up costs and delayed construction.

To resolve existing and potential litigation, Westinghouse considered acquiring S&W. Westinghouse Electric Company believed that such an acquisition would allow the parties to refocus projects and increase the likelihood of success. However, mistakes in construction can no longer be corrected.

According to a company press release, WEC has taken out an $800 million loan from several companies, including CitiGroup, to support itself through its bankruptcy and company restructuring.

It's not clear how construction of both facilities will proceed, but the chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission said that if Westinghouse decides to recertify the project, the commission will need to weigh the request against natural gas or renewable energy systems.

No new nuclear reactors have been built in the US since 1979. Opponents of nuclear power say that the 1986 Chernobyl explosion and the problems associated with waste disposal clearly illustrate the environmental dangers of nuclear power. However, in other countries, nuclear power has never lost the support of governments, which see it as a reliable source of energy.

In 1999, Westinghouse's nuclear business was bought by British Nuclear for $1.1 billion. The sale turned what was once known as the Westinghouse Electric Corporation into a media conglomerate.

Ten years ago, the Japanese giant Toshiba dreamed of a big global expansion. To do this, the company acquired Westinghouse Electric Company for $5.4 billion and planned to install 45 new nuclear reactors worldwide by 2030.

Analysts believe Westinghouse's current troubles are reducing Japan's influence on nuclear power. Even before the application was filed, Toshiba had essentially removed Westinghouse from the nuclear power plant business. Instead, Westinghouse will focus on maintaining existing reactors - a more reliable and profitable business - and developing reactor designs.

Thus, Toshiba joined the club of companies that have taken off the overwhelming and expensive task of building new nuclear reactors. For example, General Electric, a pioneer in this field, curtailed its new projects, expressing doubts about their economic efficiency. French construction company Areva is mired in losses and is undergoing a massive restructuring.

Only China, which has some ambitions to export its growing nuclear and technical capabilities, can get ahead of the Japanese in their desire for global expansion.

The shrinking industry is a challenge for the future of nuclear power, as well as for Toshiba's plans to resurrect. Company executives have said they would like to sell all or part of Westinghouse to a competitor, but given Westinghouse's ever-dwindling list of potential buyers, combined with Westinghouse's history of financial distress, it's a difficult task.

Toshiba forecasts a net loss of $9.9 billion, taking into account the value of Westinghouse itself, for the current fiscal year. The bankruptcy will make it difficult to collect debts from the company to Westinghouse's business partners, the US energy companies for which they built the reactors.

Moscow, March 27 - Vesti.Ekonomika A financial dispute between Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric could lead to a shutdown of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, and dreams of energy independence from Russia would be buried.

Westinghouse Electric, which is a subsidiary of Toshiba, produces nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants, and its losses amounted to almost $ 7 billion. Since Toshiba itself does not want to put up with this situation, the company decided to bankrupt Westinghouse Electric.

While the bankruptcy would raise losses to $9 billion, it would still save Toshiba from even larger massive losses.

For now, it is assumed that the bankruptcy filing will be filed on March 31 in accordance with Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Act. The final decision is not yet pleasant, and further funding is also under threat.

And if for many countries of the world this news is just another business conflict, then for Ukraine the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric will become a real and huge problem.

Bet on nuclear fuel from the USA

Washington has long been promoting Westinghouse's interests in Eastern Europe, creating risks for the safety of nuclear plants.

In 2014, Ukraine and Westinghouse agreed to supply American nuclear fuel to some units of Ukrainian nuclear power plants until 2020. In August 2016, Ukraine agreed with an American company to increase supplies, as well as to build a fuel production plant in Ukraine itself.

Meanwhile, a few years ago, experts warned of possible problems. There have been several cases of depressurization of Westinghouse fuel elements when used at nuclear power plants built according to Russian and Soviet designs.

In May 2016, such a depressurization occurred in the reactor of power unit No. 3 of the South Ukrainian NPP, which has been using this fuel since 2015.

A few years ago, a similar incident occurred at the Czech nuclear power plant Temelin, which uses Westinghouse fuel in Russian-made reactors. The Czech Republic even for some time refused the services of this supplier. However, the company was still able to convince all parties that the use of its fuel is safe.

It is worth noting that Westinghouse can produce fuel assemblies for nuclear units built by Rosatom, while Rosatom can produce fuel for Western-designed reactors. But from an economic point of view, partnership with Westinghouse is less profitable for third countries.

Russia now supplies the cheapest fuel, so the markup in cooperation with Westinghouse is a payment for the diversification of supplies.

Dreams of Energy Independence

For Westinghouse, the situation in Ukraine has become a very convenient opportunity to capture the market. Exactly squeezing Rosatom out of the Ukrainian nuclear fuel market under the same slogan of diversifying fuel supplies has become the company's most ambitious project of late.

Back in 2012, the Ukrainian state regulator banned the use of Westinghouse fuel assemblies in the country until the investigation of incidents with American-made fuel assemblies was completed.

It turned out that these violations were caused by design flaws in Westinghouse, as experts had previously warned about.

But already in February 2014, relations between Ukraine and Westinghouse improved significantly, and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk even held consultations with the company on the composition of the new regulator for Ukraine's nuclear safety.

Well, then the parties agreed to increase supplies. No one even remembered the old ban on use.

For Ukraine, the issue of the functioning of nuclear power plants is very acute: in February, in conditions of cold weather and a shortage of coal, the share of nuclear generation in the total energy balance increased to 62%.

At the same time, the installed capacity utilization factor (ICUF) exceeded 91%. These are very high figures, indicating a strong load on nuclear power plants. Of course, the values ​​are peak, and usually they are lower, but Kyiv has almost no free resources.

In total, there are 4 nuclear power plants in Ukraine, which operate 15 power units with a total installed electric capacity of 13.835 GW.

But in 2016, the power units of three of the four NPPs in Ukraine were shut down, and in March the South Ukrainian NPP was completely shut down.

Energoatom, which is the operator of all four nuclear power plants, was left without money. In fact, it is bankrupt. At the same time, NPP power units are either close to the deadlines for completion of operation, or these deadlines have already passed.

Zaporozhye nuclear plant	1st power unit until 23.12.2015	2nd power unit until 19.02.2016	3rd power unit until 05.03.2017	4th power unit until 04.04.2018	5th power unit until 05/27/2020	6th power unit until 10/21/2026
South Ukrainian nuclear plant	1st power unit until 02.12.2013	2nd power unit until 12.05.2015	3rd power unit until 02/10/2020
Rivne nuclear plant	1st power unit until 12/22/2010	2nd power unit until 12/22/2011	3rd power unit until 12/11/2017	4th power unit until 06/07/2035
Khmelnytsky nuclear plant	1st power unit until 13.12.2018	2nd power unit until 07.09.2035

The power units will not be closed, but they need to be changed and modernized, so the service life will be extended. But even this will require UAH 4-6 billion per block. That is, no modernization, only a formal extension.

The creation of a new power unit costs about 200 billion hryvnia, and Kyiv simply does not have that kind of money.

If all the old units are now decommissioned, then Ukraine will lose about 40% of all generation. And this means a large-scale shortage of electricity, since there is simply not enough coal and gas to make up for the losses, as well as money to purchase them. And the blockade of Donbass, which significantly increases the risks of a coal crisis, only exacerbates the deficit.

Dreams of energy independence in themselves turned out to be an unaffordable luxury for Ukraine, and the bankruptcy of the main supplier of nuclear fuel completely threatens the operation of nuclear power plants. A replacement for Westinghouse can always be found in Rosatom, although Kyiv, according to the old tradition, may prioritize political ambitions, rather than financial expediency and the safety of citizens.

Not all the problems of the Japanese corporation Toshiba, which is in a deep crisis, have been solved by the bankruptcy procedure of the American subsidiary Westinghouse Electric.

After the long-awaited release of financial statements for the period from April to December 2016, the pressure on the Japanese company has continued because the report has not received the approval of the auditor, and the risk of delisting its shares from the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TFB) remains. To offset the massive losses, Toshiba plans to sell off its microchip and memory business and its TV assembly business.

Report without approval and associated risks

Toshiba's financial statements published on April 11 after two months of delays say that its net loss for the first three quarters of the 2016 financial year (ended on March 31, 2017 - approx. TASS) amounted to 552.4 billion yen ($ 4.97 billion at the current exchange rate) . This is a 15% increase compared to the same period in fiscal 2015. Nearly half of the loss is directly related to the decline of the US nuclear business and the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric. Earlier, the management of the corporation made a forecast that the net loss for the 2016 financial year will be 1.01 trillion yen ($9.13 billion) - the highest figure in the history of Japanese business.

The decision to publish the report was made despite the lack of approval from the auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata ("PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata"). Toshiba CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa explained this by the lack of specific deadlines for obtaining approval. "This is an extremely unusual situation, but we still decided to publish the document without the participation of the auditor, since we can no longer cause concern to all interested parties," he said at a press conference on April 11.

According to Masayoshi Hirata, financial director of the company, a report that meets all the requirements can be made public in May, but he did not rule out that the management will replace the auditor.

While Toshiba avoided yet another delay by meeting the target date, the risk of a delisting of its shares remains as the company itself remains on the TFB's watch list. Also, the publication of the report without the approval of the auditor calls into question the reliability of these data and the ability of the corporation to strengthen internal control in a crisis situation in order to ensure the trust of more than 400 thousand shareholders.

Problem with Westinghouse Electric

Westinghouse Electric was created in 1999 after the company, which had existed under a similar name since 1886, went out of business as a result of a series of mergers and acquisitions. The company is engaged in the design and construction of nuclear reactors, as well as the production of fuel for nuclear power plants.

Toshiba acquired Westinghouse Electric in 2006 for $5.4 billion in the hope of securing a string of proposals to build reactors in the US. After the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, Toshiba began to experience difficulties due to the refusal to build new nuclear facilities in Japan itself and a decrease in the number of orders abroad.

At the same time, due to increased safety requirements, Westinghouse Electric had to increase the cost of building four nuclear power units in the US states of Georgia and South Carolina, which led to increased losses. The crisis worsened after in 2015 Westinghouse Electric acquired another American company from the same field, CB&I Stone & Webster (CBC & AI Stone & Webster). The costs associated with this increased several times after the completion of the transaction compared to preliminary calculations.

Once filed in a New York court, Westinghouse Electric's bankruptcy process will proceed in accordance with Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, which will allow the reorganization to proceed without serious consequences for current projects. For these purposes, Westinghouse Electric will need about $800 million, of which $200 million will be provided by Toshiba.

Of greatest interest now is the question of who will receive Toshiba's stake in Westinghouse Electric (87%). In this regard, the American side is faced with the task of preventing Chinese investors from the deal, since we are talking about secret nuclear energy technologies.

A number of observers also recalled that in 2014 the US Department of Justice filed criminal charges against five Chinese military officials related to suspicions of cyber espionage. Their essence then came down to hacking the computer networks of private companies and stealing information constituting a trade secret. Among these companies was Westinghouse Electric.

Who will get the business?

Within the next few months, the leadership of the Japanese corporation should finally decide on the buyer of the business for the production of microchips and memory devices, which from April 1 was spun off into a separate company Toshiba Memory ("Toshiba memori").

So far, four potential bidders have been selected for the deal, which could total about 3 trillion yen ($27.4 billion), according to business newspaper Nikkei. Among them were the Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industry (“Honhai Precision Industry”), the South Korean SK Hynix (“ES-Kay Hynix”), as well as the American Broadcom (“Broadcom”) and Western Digital (“Western Digital”). The latter, together with Toshiba, operates a microchip plant in the Japanese city of Yokkaichi and is likely to be considered as a priority buyer.

This option is also supported by a number of experts, in particular, according to Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, chairman of the Association of Corporate Managers of Japan, this will help Toshiba to ensure the safety of its technologies when selling a business. "While we are discussing Japan's development strategy, there is a risk that Toshiba's critical microchip technology will fall into the wrong hands. Technology leakage must be prevented at all costs," he said.

"Because it is difficult to count on the participation of other Japanese firms in the transaction, we can rely on our longtime American partner, and this should be limited," - the expert added.

Now Toshiba occupies about 19.5% of the world market of microchips and memory cards, in the first place is the South Korean Samsung ("Samsung") with a share of 30.8%, in the third - Western Digital ("Western Digital") with 15.6% .

In addition, the Japanese corporation may also sell the division for the production of televisions. As expected, this issue will be finally resolved by the end of March next year, and the transaction amount will be several hundred million dollars. A number of Chinese companies are considered among possible buyers, as well as the Turkish manufacturer of household appliances Vestel ("Vestel"), which has previously assembled Toshiba TVs under license for the European market.

In 1960, Toshiba launched Japan's first color TV. However, now this business brings corporations only losses, whose size exceeds 10 billion yen ($90 million). From April to September 2016, its TV sales revenue also fell 42% from 2015 to 27.9 billion yen ($252.6 million).

Echoes of past scandals

The increased attention in the activities of Westinghouse Electric and its subsequent bankruptcy turned out to be essentially the result of a financial scandal in which Toshiba was embroiled in 2015. Then it became known that the management of the corporation was involved in fraud with financial statements and the publication of inflated profit data. The results of an independent audit showed that the company overestimated its profit by 151.8 billion yen ($1.37 billion) from 2009 to 2015.

One of the main reasons for this was pressure from top managers who tried to create the illusion of a successful electronics manufacturer. In addition, Toshiba tried to hide the precarious state of affairs in the Westinghouse Electric subsidiary. In connection with the scandal, the then president of Toshiba Hisao Tanaka, as well as a number of top managers, resigned, and the company itself began the process of reorganizing control and management systems. In addition, a fine of 7.37 billion yen (about $67.3 million) was imposed on the company for fraudulent corporate reporting.

Also as a result of the scandal, Toshiba decided to lay off 7.8 thousand employees at its enterprises domestically and abroad.

The crisis has severely undermined the confidence of the company's shareholders. In 2015, Toshiba papers fell in price by 60%. During 2016, they managed to somewhat rehabilitate themselves and approach the previous level, however, the risks of bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric that arose at the beginning of the year again led to a large-scale collapse of the shares.

Alexey Zavrachaev, Tokyo

Hitler got in touch with Banderlogs - he ended badly. Clinton got in touch with the "Jewish Bandera" - she lost the election. "Westinghouse" and "Toshiba" got in touch with banderlogs - and karma hit them with a swift jack.

And so, sadly and beautifully, the entire Ukrainian nuclear power industry is flying into the abyss after the Maidan Ukraine and the bankrupt Westinghouse.

It's time, my dear children, to listen to another fairy tale about "efficient private property" and "the advanced West."

Which two industries are the most technologically advanced? That's right, this is space and nuclear energy. About the "advanced" American disposable reusable missiles, both Ruslan Karmanov, and I, and other authors have already written a lot. So this time let's talk about nuclear energy.

Who is the leader, flagship and main representative of the American (and wider Western) nuclear power industry? Of course, this is the famous (for many, sadly) Westinghouse company.

How is this wonderful western corporation doing? And things are worse than ever for her - she is actually bankrupt. This has not been formally announced yet, but insiders across all channels (Reuters, Bloomberg, CNBC) are leaking information that

a) Toshiba, the majority shareholder of Westinghouse, has already entered into contracts with the law firms PJT Partners Inc and AP Services, LLC, which specialize in corporate bankruptcies;

b) Investors/lenders are actively sought in the US for a "debtor's loan" that will allow Toshiba to file for bankruptcy of Westinghouse.

To continue to pay salaries to the company's employees and carry out current activities during the bankruptcy proceedings, more than $ 500 million is needed, which the company simply does not have.

What's more, problems with Westinghouse could drag down the entire Toshiba corporation, including those segments that previously felt good. To cover the multibillion-dollar losses in its nuclear division, Toshiba is going to sell its solid-state memory division (while Kingston Technology, Western Digital Corporation and Micron Technology are showing signs of interest in buying), according to Bloomberg.

By the way, he is trying to sell his Toshiba computer memory chip business at a substantial discount. If earlier it was estimated at 2.5 trillion yen, now they cannot find a buyer even for 1.5 trillion (about $13 billion). And this despite the fact that this division forms 81% of the total profit of the corporation.

And, of course, Toshiba is trying to sell Westinghouse itself. However, no one wants to buy such a “valuable” asset. Apparently, the world's capitalists are not aware of the insurmountable technological superiority of Western corporations, they were not told about this by Russian liberals.

Because of this unfortunate oversight by Russian liberals and technologists, first Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi, and then the last remaining candidate for the purchase of Westinghouse - Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) - refused such a tempting offer to buy unprofitable squalor.

Incidentally, Westinghouse's Russian and Chinese competitors who might be interested in buying the company have been cut off by US and UK regulators (both the Russians and the Chinese, I think, crossed themselves in relief).

As a result, no one needed this super-valuable asset, and attempts to sell it to someone today have come to a standstill.

And time is running out. Because Toshiba's repeated attempts to postpone the publication of annual reports have already bothered everyone (the original report was supposed to be published on February 14). The last date agreed to by the regulator is April 11 (previously the deadline was March 27). After that, the corporation's shares will be removed from trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Tokyo Stock Exchange, TSE).

But let's see what's going on with their "Achilles" daughter. The most advanced company in the world, Westinghouse (which is far behind the Russian Rosatom), was in a loss of 6.3 billion dollars.

Or, to be more precise, this amount is estimated to exceed the initial estimate during the construction of four power units for two nuclear power plants in the United States (in Georgia and South Carolina) for Scana Corp. corporations. and Southern Co.

Moreover, we can also talk about additional penalties against Westinghouse due to the failure to meet the deadlines for the construction of power units, so the amount of their losses may further increase.

The corporate clients of the construction also turned to Weil Gotshal & Manges, LLP, a corporate bankruptcy law firm.

And if Westinghouse files for bankruptcy and Scana Corp. and Southern Co. fail to find additional investors in the amount of 6.3 billion dollars, then the first attempt in more than thirty years to build a new nuclear power plant in the United States may end in a complete fiasco.

It’s just that you don’t spit, you will end up with an “efficient private owner” and “technological miracles” (how is the Oroville dam, has it been repaired already? for how long?)! After all, it is only by a miracle that one can explain how, with such “wonderful” management and such “advanced” technologies, the United States has so far held out and not collapsed much earlier.

Just yesterday I watched a talk show where a bald representative of the Yabloko party was ranting about the "advanced USA and backward Russia and China." Long neighing over the sad clown. Now, when I write about the bankruptcy of Westinghouse, I laugh even more.

But that's not even the funniest part. The funny thing is that the Ukrainian media a week ago cheerfully reported as a victory that the Ukrainian Energoatom agreed with Westinghouse to supply sets of equipment for cleaning the gas-vapor environment for power units No. 1 and No. 2 of the South Ukrainian NPP.

At the same time, it was especially proudly emphasized that Westinghouse won the competition on the ProZorro website. True, they forgot to indicate that she was the only participant in the “competition” (the Russian Rosatom, of course, was not allowed).

Well, now, as is usual with Westinghouse, either the equipment will be broken (or not suitable), or the final price will triple, or the company will no longer deliver anything to anyone, because it will go bankrupt. Typical win.

One more thing. Just a couple of days ago, it was reported that the Japanese government handed over the “ATO warriors” a Toshiba tomograph. And now Toshiba is on the brink of bankruptcy.

So it turns out that whoever gets in touch with Banderlogs, all Khan. Charles XII contacted Mazepa - he ended badly. Hitler got in touch with Banderlogs - he ended badly. Clinton got in touch with the "Jewish Bandera" - she lost the election. "Westinghouse" and "Toshiba" got in touch with banderlogs - and karma hit them with a swift jack.

That's some bullshit, little ones.

Alexander Rogers