US sanctions could affect Rosatom’s collaboration with South Africa’s Eskom

At COP28 in Dubai, Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom signed a cooperation agreement with South Africa’s state-run power utility Eskom focused on a human-centric approach to workforce training. However, US sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector have impacted the majority state-owned Rosatom, Independent Online (IOL) reported on January 16.

The US government states that the sanctions aim to limit Russia’s capacity to conduct warfare and prevent efforts to bypass existing restrictions following its invasion of Ukraine. Among those targeted are senior Rosatom officials, including CEO Alexei Likhachev. The company is accused of serving as a significant revenue source for Russia, allegedly contributing to the development of weapons for use in Ukraine and supplying military equipment to support the Russian defence industry.

The potential impact of the sanctions on the agreement remains unclear, as Eskom had not responded to IOL’s inquiries at the time of publication. In March 2024, within the XIII International Forum ATOMEXPO 2024 framework, the two companies agreed on an action plan for 2024-2026. The plan focuses on human-centric initiatives and aims to create more employment opportunities for African graduates of Russian universities.

According to a statement from Eskom at the time, the agreement included joint educational programmes for employees, collaborative degree programmes with universities partnered with Rosatom and Eskom, and business education initiatives, such as Rosatom’s hydrogen train-the-trainers programme.

The agreement also underscored the shared commitment to empowering women and youth, integrating Eskom’s Women Advancement Programme with Rosatom’s “[In]Visible Power” Women Leadership Programme.

“The plan also highlights secondment of engineering competencies and development of championships for professional skills, including AtomSkills. The plan contributes to practical steps towards bringing highly qualified and talented African graduates from Russian universities to Eskom enterprises across the continent,” the statement said.

In response to the US sanctions, Rosatom described them as “unlawful” and accused “unfriendly countries” of using them as a tool for unfair competition. The company stated that targeting its management was “unfounded” and noted its position as a global leader in nuclear energy technology exports.

According to IOL, when asked for comment, the Russian embassy in Pretoria referred to a statement by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who claimed the sanctions reflected the US unwillingness to participate in fair economic competition.