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Updated September 2008
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities
Dvigatel
Location: Tallinn
Background:
On 25 October 1897, Tsar Nicholas II approved the charter for Dvigatel Joint Stock Company, though the official founding day is considered to be on 9 May 1899. Originally a rail-car production facility, under the Soviet Union Dvigatel focused on fulfilling complex state equipment orders for the nuclear industry and produced large-scale structures for the space industry.[1] Another of Dvigatel's primary functions is to supply equipment for chemical- and energy-related industries. Russia’s Ruslan and Lyudmila reactors were constructed by Dvigatel.[2] Formerly one of the largest enterprises in the Soviet Union’s military-industrial complex, Dvigatel was $5.8 million in debt by the time it was privatized in early 1996, when the German consortium Diamark acquired 100 percent of Dvigatel's shares.[1,2] The plant had about 1000 employees in 1996 (down from 3500 during the Soviet era), 95 percent of whom are Russian. [2]
Sources:
[1] Yaroslav Tolstikov, "Dvigatelyu' - 100," Molodezh Estonii, 7 May 1999; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[2] Marina Sergeyeva, "Yadernoye sotrudnichestvo s etnicheskim podtekstom," Kommersant, 18 May 1996, p. 4.
Activities:
In the 1990s, open source reports indicated that Dvigatel was a metal processing and mechanical engineering company specializing in the manufacture of large metal structures. Main markets for its products were listed as Germany and the Nordic countries.[1] It filled orders from organizations such as the Swedish firm Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), the Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Thermonuclear Research, and the then Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom). Minatom orders included equipment for spent fuel reprocessing, long-term storage of nuclear materials, and air filtration in nuclear power plants.[2] As of 2008, Dvigatel appears to have been turned into an industrial park.[3]
Sources:
[1] "Business Areas," Mainor Ltd Web Site, http://www.mainor.ee/business.html.
[2] Marina Sergeyeva, "Yadernoye sotrudnichestvo s etnicheskim podtekstom," Kommersant, 18 May 1996, p. 4.
[3] "Dvigatel Industrial Park," http://www.dvigatel.ee/index2.php.no?page=11.
Archived Developments
4 November 1998: DVIGATEL SIGNS 50 MILLION KROON CONTRACT WITH SHIPBUILDER
Dvigatel signed a three-year contract worth 50 million kroons ($3.75 million as of 4 November 1998) with the Norwegian shipbuilding firm Ulstein for the manufacture of nautical steering mechanisms. Dvigatel Director Ants Pilving said that the contract would enable the plant to increase productivity through mass production techniques. Ulstein plans to invest some 650 million kroons ($48.7 million as of 4 November 1998) when Dvigatel finalizes the purchase of its land.
["Dvigatel Signs Contract With Shipbuilder," Estonian Review online edition, http://www.vm.ee/eng/review/1998/98110107.html.] {Entered by IPZ on 11/9/00}
21 October 1996: DIAMARK'S OWNERSHIP OF DVIGATEL CONFIRMED
Following a ruling by the Federal Court of Estonia, the Estonian Privatization Council reviewed Dvigatel's January 1996 privatization tender and announced that AS Diamark is the rightful owner of Dvigatel.
["Dvigatel Funds Unfrozen After Court Ruling," Estonian Review online edition, http://www.vm.ee/eng/review/1996/96102127.html, Vol. 6, No. 43, 21 October 1996.] {Entered IPZ 2/21/2001}
26 September 1996: DIAMARK AND OKSEPT DISPUTE OWNERSHIP OF DVIGATEL
On 26 September 1996, the Federal Court of Estonia upheld a ruling by Tallinn Municipal Court stipulating that the outcome of the 1996 tender to privatize Dvigatel be investigated. In January 1996, the Estonian Privatization Council announced that the Diamark consortium had submitted the winning bid for Dvigatel. This decision was disputed by Oksept Joint Stock Company, whose bid had not even been considered by the Estonian Privatization Council, even though it was larger than Diamark's. In June 1996, Tallinn Municipal Court ordered the Estonian Privatization Council to review the results of the privatization auction. As a response, the council sent an appeal to the Federal Court, which upheld the ruling. Should Oksept win the tender review, it would have to reimburse Diamark's investments into Dvigatel.
[Tatyana Merkulova, "Agentstvo privatizatsii, kazhetsya, oblazhalos," Biznes i Baltiya, 26 September 1996; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered by IPZ on 11/9/00}
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2008
by MIIS.
