Atomic company Westinghouse has gone bankrupt. Nuclear powerlessness: how Rosatom's main competitor went bankrupt

In recent days, the headlines of our large news agencies have literally filled with "sensational" headlines on the same topic: "It has been decided to declare Westinghouse supplying nuclear fuel to Ukraine bankrupt", "Westinghouse energy company has started bankruptcy proceedings", "American Westinghouse Electric will be bankrupt." And in almost every such message there are reminders of how the relations in the Energoatom-Rosatom-Westinghouse triangle developed, read as a hint that Russian readers may begin to rejoice at the problems of the American company.

It is also strictly necessary to mention Article 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, and without a single attempt to explain what this article is, why it is used, and who, in fact, benefits from it. Analysis of news is boring business, blowing away the touch of sensationalism, and even making the text more cumbersome.

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

“… The current owner of the company is the Toshiba corporation, which is increasingly interested in only one thing: to sell in order to improve its shaky 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 future. Sell ​​right now, while you can get a decent price and save your more promising areas "

This is a direct quote from an article published on February 3rd this year. Regnum was the only news agency that decided that the analysis of the situation and the attempt at forecasting made by the journal Geoenergetika deserved the attention of the readers. Potential bidders for the Westinghouse purchase were reviewed in the same article:

“Among those who could apply 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 a project for a generation III + ATMEA-1 light water reactor with them. Another possible candidate is KEPCO from South Korea. South Korean enterprises are among the suppliers for the AP-1000 units. In addition, it is known that KEPCO is negotiating to become an investor in the project for the construction of the Moorside nuclear power plant in the UK with AP-1000 reactors. But KEPCO has its own successful reactor project, the APR-1400, and it is not known whether the South Korean company needs control over the competing 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 liability.

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

You can read our entire February article here:

The only thing missing in our February forecast is reflections on the specifics of that very 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 about the impending bankruptcy of Westinghouse for the analytical magazine Geoenergetika and the news agency Regnum, let's try to analyze this news, not shout it out.

It is necessary to start from the fact that the initiator of the bankruptcy procedure of the American company was initiated not 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 voluntary declaration of bankruptcy , which is possible only under one condition - the written consent of creditors, who 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 the body that will conduct the bankruptcy procedure. Of course, we do not have a list of those companies to which Westinghouse Electric owes debt, but there is no doubt that this list is headed by Toshiba, which regularly “lent its shoulder” in all cases when, due to the sluggishness in the construction of new NPP units, an American company fell under penalties. And, since it was Toshiba who initiated the bankruptcy procedure, there is no doubt that its lawyers have precisely calculated: it will be she who will lead the bankruptcy.

The situation with the Japanese is so critical that there is simply no room for error. Recall that the authorized capital of the Japanese corporation is $ 3.3 billion, and the amount of losses, according to preliminary estimates, is at least 5 billion, not counting the forthcoming bankruptcy costs. The goal set by Toshiba was described by us back in February: “to throw off liabilities, leave assets”. With the help of bankruptcy, abandon all unprofitable contracts, leave only those that bring guaranteed profit - only in this case Westinghouse will become an attractive sale object, 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 deeply 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. Units 3 and 4 under construction at Vogtle NPP, Units 2 and 3 at V.S. Summer in the USA, units at Sanmen NPP and Saiyan NPP in China, or customers somehow get out - not Toshiba's problem. Westinghouse has recently won the tender for the construction of 6 AR-1000 reactors in India at once? Also not a question - let the Indians come up with something. Planning a project in the UK? Well, it didn’t work - it doesn’t happen to anyone.

Westingouse project site, Photo: japantimes.co.jp

Against such a background, write and implicitly offer to rejoice for the problems that the Ukrainian Energoatom could potentially face? Excuse me, but where is the reason for such schadenfreude, what are the benefits of Russia in general and Rosatom in particular from the beginning controlled bankruptcy of Westinghouse? Let's try to find one, if any.

Suppose that Toshiba's lawyers are not mistaken, that everything will work out as planned, and as a result, a known profitable company with some new fancy name will be put up for sale, as was the case with the American Enrichment Company, which, after going through bankruptcy -11 ", is now called not USEC (US Enrichment Company), but Centrus Energy. Let, as a result of bankruptcy, we see in front of us the company "Successful Harakiri-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 a deliberately profitable holding? Yes, as a matter of fact, any company with the money for such an investment that bargains with Toshiba for a price. But with two small reservations - this company cannot have Russian or Chinese "citizenship". Indeed, in such a deal, related to the sale of technologies that are critical to the national security of the state, the veto right belongs to the US state. Donald Trump does not read either Geoenergy or Regnum, he is now even afraid of the words “Russia” - the poor fellow was simply pecked at with constant reproaches for even showing signs of respect for our country, he had already slept through the “big deal”. China is the main competitor, there are no options here either.

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

So, the most optimistic option for Russia is that Westinghouse will be bought by a money-bag company. In this case, nothing will change for Russia at all. The Americans pressed on Energoatom, pushing their fuel into the reactors of the nuclear power plant - now they will press the same, but in a wrapper from the Germans, Zimbabians or some Congolese. But there is an option and much more pessimistic. Let us remind you that until recently the unspoken “big atomic three” consisted of Westinghouse, AREVA and Rosatom. With the American company, it's clear that the French are currently restructuring their nuclear company, thereby helping it avoid bankruptcy. At the same time, Rosatom did not undertake any subversive and sabotage actions against competitors, they ruined themselves before our eyes completely on their own. Nothing needs to be done except to 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 go into any adventures, but continued to do its job, preserving and multiplying the magnificent legacy of the Ministry of Medium Machine-Building of the times THE USSR. Will anyone, other than Russia itself, be satisfied with its dominant position in one of the most high-tech markets? With the current number of "frantic well-wishers" - a rhetorical question. No no and one more time no. Can Russia be left without competitors? Yes, such a thought for the West, which is 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 busy now with solving problems around the post of her president. Who are we talking about? Yes about South Korea and KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corp.), of course. Anyone who does not know what she is like 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 United Arab Emirates Energy Corporation said:

“We were impressed by the world-class safety performance of the Korea Electric Power Corp. team, which has demonstrated the ability to meet the UAE program objectives.”

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. According to the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy, fuel costs for the APR-1400 are 23 percent lower than those for France's Areva's EPR, which is considered the most advanced reactor in the world. The government also plans to develop a new nuclear power plant design that will have 10 percent higher power and a safety rating better than the APR-1400. NPPs in South Korea currently operate with an installed capacity utilization factor (ICUF) of 93.4 percent, which is higher than the capacity utilization rate of plants in the USA (89.9%), France (76.1%) and Japan (59.2%). South Korean nuclear power plants consistently have the lowest outage rates 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 aircraft crash safety. "

Nuclear reactor APR-1400 (KEPCO, South Korea)

South Korea has its own nuclear engineering industry, knows how to design and build nuclear power plants, and is developing a reactor design that fully complies with the IAEA's generation III + standard. Now imagine that KEPCO will be further strengthened by all Westinghouse assets. Have you presented? We are sure that in this case you agreed with our opinion: we see a new powerful competitor of Rosatom, whose fight against us will be supported by all those who dream of a "torn to shreds of the Russian economy." Do Koreans have no money for such a deal? Name any major US bank and you will be in 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 Harakiri-2017" continues to produce and supply fuel for 31% of the market, continues to produce service and transport equipment, prepares to fulfill contracts for the decontamination of nuclear sites, preventing Rosatom from breaking into these segments. In our opinion, the bravura tone of news reports about the Westinghouse bankruptcy 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, filed for bankruptcy. In a statement, the company said it lost money on construction projects in South Carolina and Georgia, although it said nuclear fuel and facility maintenance operations were still quite profitable.

The cause of the incident was cost overruns and delays in the construction of nuclear power plants, which include Generation III + APP1000 reactors with simplified design and safety equipment, which were supposed to simplify and reduce the cost of installation, operation and maintenance. The new design also had to make the reactor more resilient to earthquakes, plane crashes and power outages.

Both projects - in South Carolina and Georgia - are almost three years overdue 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 the Southgate Gas & Electric's Virgil C. Summer facility in Jenkisville, South Carolina.

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

Delays were inevitable: Westinghouse says safety regulations were put in place to prevent terrorist attacks on nuclear reactors, forcing the company to re-plan and re-license both power plants, creating additional unforeseen engineering problems leading to increased costs and construction delays.

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

According to the company’s press release, WEC took out $ 800 million in loans from several companies, including CitiGroup, to support itself in the company's bankruptcy and restructuring process.

It is unclear how the construction of both sites will continue, but the chairman of the Georgia Public Utilities Commission said that if Westinghouse decides to re-certify the project, the commission will have to weigh the request for systems using natural gas or renewable energy.

No new nuclear reactors have been built in the United States since 1979. Opponents of nuclear power say that the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the problems associated with waste management clearly illustrate the danger of nuclear power for the environment. In other countries, however, nuclear power has never lost the support of governments who view it as a reliable source of energy.

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

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

Analysts say Westinghouse's current troubles are diminishing Japan's influence over nuclear power. Even before the filing of the application, Toshiba effectively suspended 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 daunting and expensive task of building new nuclear reactors. Thus, the pioneer in this area General Electric has curtailed its new projects, expressing doubts about their economic efficiency. The French construction company Areva is mired in losses and is undergoing massive restructuring.

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

Shrinking the industry is a challenge for the future of nuclear power, as well as Toshiba's plans to rebuild. Company executives said they would like to sell all or part of Westinghouse to a competitor, but given the ever-dwindling list of potential buyers, coupled with Westinghouse's history of financial disaster, it's a daunting task.

Toshiba predicts a net loss, including the cost of Westinghouse itself, at $ 9.9 billion for the current fiscal year. The bankruptcy will make it difficult to collect debts from the company for Westinghouse's business partners - the US energy companies for which they built reactors.

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

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

Although the bankruptcy will increase losses to $ 9 billion, it will still save Toshiba from even larger losses.

So far, it is expected that the bankruptcy petition will be filed on March 31 in accordance with Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy law. 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 simply another business conflict, then for Ukraine the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric will become a real and huge problem.

US nuclear fuel bet

Washington has long promoted Westinghouse's interests in Eastern Europe, posing risks to the safety of nuclear power 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, several years ago, experts warned of possible problems. There were several cases of depressurization of Westinghouse fuel elements when using them 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, where this fuel has been used since 2015.

Several years ago, a similar incident occurred at the Czech Temelín nuclear power plant, which uses Westinghouse fuel in Russian-made reactors. The Czech Republic even refused the services of this provider for some time. At the same time, 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 power 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 most inexpensive fuel, so the margin in cooperation with Westinghouse is a payment for diversifying supplies.

Dreams of energy independence

For Westinghouse, the situation in Ukraine has become a very convenient pretext for capturing the market. It is the squeezing of Rosatom from the Ukrainian nuclear fuel market under the same slogan of diversifying fuel supplies that has become the company's most ambitious project in recent years.

Back in 2012, the Ukrainian state regulator banned the use of Westinghouse fuel assemblies in the country pending an investigation into accidents with American-made fuel assemblies.

It turned out that these violations were caused by the design flaws of Westinghouse, as previously warned by experts.

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

And then the parties agreed to increase supplies. Nobody even remembered the old ban on use.

For Ukraine, the issue of NPP functioning is very acute: in February, in conditions of cold weather and coal shortage, the share of nuclear generation in the total energy balance rose 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 Kiev has almost no free resources.

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

But in 2016, the power units of three of the four nuclear power plants in Ukraine were shut down, and in March the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant 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, the NPP power units are either close to the terms of completion of operation, or these terms have already expired.

Zaporizhzhya NPP	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 NPP	1st power unit until 02.12.2013	2nd power unit until 05/12/2015	3rd power unit until 02/10/2020
Rivne NPP	1st power unit until 22.12.2010	2nd power unit until 22.12.2011	3rd power unit until 11.12.2017	4th power unit until 06/07/2035
Khmelnitskaya NPP	1st power unit until 13.12.2018	2nd power unit until 09/07/2035

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

The creation of a new power unit costs about 200 billion hryvnia, and Kiev 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 compensate for losses, as well as money for their purchase. And the blockade of Donbass, which significantly increases the risks of the 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 endangers the operation of the nuclear power plant. A replacement for Westinghouse can always be found in the person of Rosatom, although Kiev, according to the old tradition, may prioritize political ambitions, rather than financial viability and the safety of citizens.

Not all the problems of the Japanese corporation Toshiba ("Toshiba"), which is in deep crisis, were solved by the bankruptcy procedure of the American "daughter" Westinghouse Electric ("Westinghouse Electric").

After the long-awaited publication of financial statements for the period from April to December 2016, the pressure on the Japanese company continued, because the report did not receive auditor approval, and the risk of delisting its shares from the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) remains. To compensate for the massive losses, Toshiba plans to divest its spin-off microchip and memory business and TV assembly business.

Report without approval and associated risks

Toshiba's financial statements released on April 11, after two monthly delays, say that its net loss for the first three quarters of the 2016 fiscal year (ended March 31, 2017 - TASS note) amounted to 552.4 billion yen ($ 4.97 billion at the current exchange rate) ... This is a 15% increase over the same period in fiscal 2015. Almost half of the loss is directly related to the collapse of the nuclear power plant business in the United States and the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric. Earlier, the management of the corporation made a forecast that the net loss for the 2016 fiscal year will amount to 1.01 trillion yen ($ 9.13 billion) - the highest in the history of Japanese business.

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

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

While Toshiba has managed to avoid another delay by meeting the target date, the risk of delisting its shares remains, as the company itself remains on the TFB control 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 confidence of more than 400 thousand shareholders.

The Westinghouse Electric problem

Westinghouse Electric was formed in 1999 after a similarly-named company, which had existed since 1886, ceased to exist through 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 hopes of getting a number of bids to build reactors in the United States. After the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, Toshiba began to experience difficulties in connection with the refusal to build new nuclear facilities in Japan itself and a decrease in the number of orders abroad.

In parallel, due to increased safety requirements, Westinghouse Electric had to increase spending on the construction of four nuclear power units in the US states of Georgia and South Carolina, which led to increased losses. The crisis was exacerbated after in 2015 Westinghouse Electric acquired another American firm in the same business, CB&I Stone & Webster. The associated costs increased significantly after the completion of the transaction compared to preliminary calculations.

Upon filing in New York City, Westinghouse Electric will be insolvent under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, allowing for the reorganization to proceed without serious impact on ongoing projects. For these purposes Westinghouse Electric will need about $ 800 million, of which $ 200 million will be allocated by Toshiba.

The 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 participating in the deal, since we are talking about secret technologies of nuclear energy.

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

Who will get the business?

Over the next few months, the management 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 separated into a separate company Toshiba Memory ("Toshiba Memori").

According to the Nikkei business newspaper, four potential participants in the deal have been selected so far, which could amount to about 3 trillion yen ($ 27.4 billion). Among them were Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industry, South Korean SK Hynix, and American Broadcom and Western Digital. The latter, together with Toshiba, operates a microchip plant in the Japanese city of Yokkaichi and is likely to be considered a priority buyer.

This option is also supported by a number of experts, in particular, according to the chairman of the Association of Corporate Managers of Japan, Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, 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 technologies will fall into the wrong hands. We must do our best to prevent technology leaks,” he said.

"Since it is difficult to count on the participation of other Japanese firms in the deal, we can rely on our long-term American partner, and this should be limited to," 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 sell the TV production division. It is expected that this issue will be finally resolved by the end of March next year, and the deal will amount to several hundred million dollars. Potential buyers include a number of Chinese companies, as well as the Turkish home appliance manufacturer Vestel, which previously assembled Toshiba TVs under license for the European market.

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

Echoes of past scandals

The increased focus on Westinghouse Electric and its subsequent bankruptcy was essentially the result of a financial scandal that Toshiba was embroiled in in 2015. Then it became known that the management of the corporation was involved in fraud with financial statements and the publication of inflated data on profits. The results of an independent audit showed that the company overstated 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 at its subsidiary Westinghouse Electric. 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 a process of reorganizing its control and management systems. In addition, the company was fined 7.37 billion yen (about $ 67.3 million) for fraudulent corporate reporting.

Also, as a result of the scandal, Toshiba decided to cut 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 shares fell in price by 60%. During 2016, they managed to rehabilitate somewhat 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 shares.

Alexey Zavrachaev, Tokyo

Hitler contacted the Banderlog and ended badly. Clinton got in touch with the "Judeo-Bandera" - she lost the elections. "Westinghouse" and "Toshiba" contacted the Banderlogists - and their karma was tapped with a swift jack.

This is how, sadly and beautifully, the entire Ukrainian nuclear power industry is flying into the abyss after Ukraine's Maidan and the ruined Westinghouse.

The time has come, my dear kids, to listen to another fairy tale about "effective private property" and the "advanced west".

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

Who is the leader, flagship and main representative of the American (and more broadly Western) nuclear energy? Undoubtedly, this is the famous (for many, sadly) Westinghouse company.

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

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

b) The US is actively seeking investors / creditors for a "debtor loan" that will allow Toshiba to bankrupt Westinghouse.

To continue to pay salaries to the company's employees and carry out current activities at the time of the bankruptcy procedure, you need more than $ 500 million, which the company simply does not have.

Moreover, problems with Westinghouse could pull the entire Toshiba corporation to the bottom, including those segments that previously felt good. According to Bloomberg, to cover the multibillion-dollar losses in its nuclear division, Toshiba is going to sell its solid-state memory division (while there are signs of interest in the purchase from Kingston Technology, Western Digital Corporation and Micron Technology).

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

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

Because of this unfortunate oversight of 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.

By the way, the Russian and Chinese competitors of Westinghouse, which might have shown interest in buying the company, were cut off by the US and UK regulators (I think both the Russians and the Chinese crossed themselves with relief).

As a result, this overvalued asset turned out to be of no use to anyone, and attempts to sell it to someone for today have reached a dead end.

And time is running out. Because the repeated attempts of "Toshiba" to postpone the publication of the annual accounts are already tired of everyone (the original report was supposed to be published on February 14). The last term, which the regulator agreed to, is April 11 (before that the date was March 27). After that, the shares of the corporation will be withdrawn from trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

But let's see what's going on with their "Achilles" daughter. The most advanced company in the world, Westinghouse (much less the backward Russian Rosatom) ended up in losses of $ 6.3 billion.

Or, more precisely, this amount is estimated as the excess of the original estimate for the construction of four power units for two nuclear power plants in the United States (Georgia and South Carolina) for the corporations "Scana Corp." and Southern Co..

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

The corporations that ordered the construction also hired Weil Gotshal & Manges, LLP, a corporate bankruptcy law firm.

And if Westinghouse files for bankruptcy and Scana Corp. and Southern Co. If additional investors in the amount of $ 6.3 billion are not found, then the first attempt in more than thirty years to build a new nuclear power plant in the United States may end in complete fiasco.

That's just where you don’t spit, you will find yourself in the “effective private owner” and in the “miracles of technology” (how is the Oroville Dam, has it already been repaired? How long?)! After all, only a miracle can explain how, with such a “wonderful” management and such “advanced” technologies, the United States has stretched out and has not collapsed much earlier.

Just yesterday I watched a talk show in which a bald representative of the Yabloko party spoke up about “the advanced USA and the backward Russia and China”. For a long time he laughed at the sad clown. Now, when I write about the bankruptcy of Westinghouse, I laugh even more.

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

It was emphasized with particular pride that Westinghouse had won the competition on the ProZorro website. True, they forgot to point out that she was the only participant in the "competition" (the Russian "Rosatom", of course, was not allowed).

Well, now, as usual at Westinghouse, either the equipment will be broken (or not suitable), or the final price will triple, or the company will not deliver anything to anyone, because it will go bankrupt. Typical peremogue.

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

So it turns out that whoever contacted the banderlog, everyone is khan. Karl XII got in touch with Mazepa - ended badly. Hitler contacted the Banderlog and ended badly. Clinton got in touch with the "Judeo-Bandera" - she lost the elections. "Westinghouse" and "Toshiba" contacted the Banderlogists - and their karma was tapped with a swift jack.

Here is such a garbage, little kids.

Alexander Rogers