Clothing traders, agro-service employees, and KGB. Who works in the organization responsible for the nuclear waste repository in Belarus?
After the "Belarusian Organization for the Management of Radioactive Waste" (BelRAO) was headed by a former KGB officer, the enterprise's website hid its staff list, removing the corresponding menu item. In this regard, the publication "Flagshtok" decided to find out details about those BelRAO employees whose list could be preserved, to see who is responsible for burying radioactive waste in Belarus — and was greatly surprised.
After studying the actions of the BelRAO team — their meetings with citizens, motivational videos — journalists questioned the qualifications of the employees. And as a result, they found that there were few specialized professionals among the personnel.
As "Flagshtok" found out with the help of "Cyberpartisans," the team responsible for selecting the site for the radioactive waste storage facility (which may appear in Khoiniki, Mstsislau, or Astravets districts) is led by anything but professionals — the director and his deputy have no relevant education or experience. Here is the main information about the employees whose identities are known.
This is what the list of enterprise employees looked like in early April 2026. "Flagshtok" added a photo of the new director — former KGB officer Mikhail Kisel — instead of Dmitry Logvin's picture.
BelRAO team. Photo: enterprise's Telegram channel
The organization responsible for the centuries-long storage of radioactive waste began its activities under the leadership of Dmitry Logvin, who graduated from the Faculty of Energy of Sukhoi State Technical University of Gomel and worked in gas energy.
Information about the new head of BelRAO was reported earlier. This is Mikhail Kisel, whose track record, apart from the position of "serviceman of military unit 10091" (Central Office of the State Security Committee) before joining the security service of the Belarusian NPP, has no other specializations at all. Information about his education is unavailable.
A similar situation applies to the deputy director of BelRAO, who is also not a competent specialist. This is Viktor Kudin, who worked in the State Control Committee from 1996 (at that time, the President's Control Service) until his appointment to BelRAO in 2023 when this organization was created. His educational background only lists the Academy of Public Administration under the President.
Not only Kisel — another ex-KGB officer, who came to BelRAO from Lukashenka's Administration, was found in the team
Two other BelRAO employees were separately identified by "Cyberpartisans." One of them is Alexander Yatskouski, who was also assigned to the enterprise in 2023.
His exact position at BelRAO is unknown; he is not presented on the website or in the enterprise's information channels. However, his previous places of work – also in 2023 – include:
- Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus
- State Secretariat of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus
- House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus
- Presidential Affairs Management Directorate of the Republic of Belarus
- Central Commission for Elections and National Referendums
He worked at these places from 2012. It is noteworthy that there are no mentions of him online in connection with these government bodies. Before reaching the "highest echelons of power," Yatskouski worked at OJSC "Agat - Electromechanical Plant." And even earlier, from 2003, he was an operations officer of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate of the KGB.
Engineer for radioactive waste management previously worked at Zara
Anastasia Petrova, head of the legal and personnel sector, began her career at OJSC "Beshenkovichi Agroservice." Then her list includes the district executive committee's education department, enterprises "Vitebskoblgaz" and "Gosenergoaznadzor." From 2023 — BelRAO.
Anastasia Petrova. Screenshot from video
Anna Krivetskaya, an engineer for radioactive waste management, previously worked in... clothing sales. She worked at the private enterprise LLC "ZARA BLR" (retail trade in clothing in specialized stores) in 2022, then — at the Republican Center for Technical Creativity.
Screenshot from BelRAO website
Pavel Zialchan, head of the capital construction, information technology, and transport support department, it turns out, did not stay long in his positions and changed more than a dozen workplaces in recent years. These were mostly private enterprises. Moreover, their specialization was very diverse — from furniture and spare parts to electronics and veterinary products.
His deputy, Dmitry Petrovich, also previously worked at private enterprises, and in state organizations, he was also a deputy head (for example, at "Belinvestenergosezhenie").
Tatyana Lisyhanovich. Photo: BelRAO
Tatyana Lisyhanovich, head of the production and technical department, came to BelRAO with experience. She worked for about seven years at the "Sosny" Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research.
However, Anastasia Basak, a specialist in radiation safety and environmental protection, does not have such a background. BelRAO became her first place of work — in 2023, she was still defending her diploma. True, she has a specialized education — she graduated from the Sakharov International State Environmental Institute of BSU.
Anastasia Basak. Photo: BelRAO
Another qualified employee was found in the team — laboratory assistant Natalia Kolbun. She has a chemist's education, but she was not noted for work in the field of radioactive waste management before working at BelRAO.
"Only the president is competent in our country"
"Flagshtok" called the BelRAO hotline "Checked. Authentic." on behalf of a concerned citizen. They confirmed that "we do not currently have such information on the website." When asked if director Mikhail Kisel has a specialized education, they replied:
"The person didn't just come off the street; the person came knowing and understanding."
They never gave an answer about his education, but the following was said:
"Only the president is competent in matters of the storage site [for BelNPP waste]. [...] The final decision on the placement of our facility will be made at the level of the President of the Republic of Belarus."
To the direct question of whether BelRAO specialists have sufficient competencies to make the necessary conclusions about the site for the nuclear waste repository, the employee replied that she is not authorized to assess the competence of other employees. She also refused to provide information about the education of BelRAO specialists.
The official list of BelRAO's tasks and functions on the enterprise's website implies the presence of engineers for radioactive waste management, radiochemists, radiation safety specialists, technological equipment operators, designers, and environmentalists.
"A commercial-bureaucratic intermediary capable of mastering the budget through familiar supply chains"
Such a staff composition of the enterprise was commented on by Sergey Bessarab, a radiation chemist, expert in chemical and radiation safety, and invited researcher at the Institute for Global Catastrophic Risks, to "Flagshtok":
"This is definitely not an operating nuclear engineering organization of national level. This is something typical post-Soviet, a commercial-bureaucratic intermediary capable of mastering the budget through familiar supply chains. The staff is a mixed bag of students, wholesale traders, real estate agents, school methodologists, and State Control Committee auditors, which absolutely does not fit the concept of 'working with nuclear waste'."
The expert notes that Lisyhanovich stands out a bit from the general picture, and of all the listed employees, only she (presumably) will be able to read any technical reports from French or Finnish nuclear scientists working with radioactive waste — it is in these countries that the best global experience in radioactive waste management is currently accumulated.
"The rest of the team can be called useless. How will wholesale sellers evaluate the heat generation of highly active vitrified assemblies and pressing equipment for compacting ion-exchange resins? Probably based on procurement margins. Perhaps if employees receive an annual dose due to an improperly calibrated screen (because their boss has no concept of probabilistic safety analysis), they will simply be given expired Iodomarin from warehouses."
Sergey Bessarab. Photo: "Green Portal"
The specialist points out that organizational reliability and safety culture, apparently, will be the responsibility of Kudin, who spent 21 years in the State Control Committee:
"In symbiosis with officials from the 'education department' and gas workers, the approach to operating the repository will most likely be based on concealing any problems. If radioactive waste containers start leaking, Kudin will most likely not be informed due to fear of criminal charges, and he himself will not distinguish a dosimeter from a thermometer. The safety culture at this facility is dead before it even opens."
We have a "staff salad Olivier" made up of retail trade and agro-service specialists, the expert concludes:
"I assume this means that the state is not going to build a high-tech multi-barrier (potentially even geological) repository to protect the population. They are simply going to bury nuclear barrels at the forest edge according to 90s gas pipeline standards under the supervision of 'strong managers' and retired controllers. By all laws of common sense, it is clear that this structure is physically incapable of developing a competent response to the IAEA, conducting environmental/radiation protection for the radioactive waste project according to modern standards, let alone managing radionuclide behavior."
Before the investigation was published, a "Flagshtok" journalist contacted the BelRAO director's reception for an official comment. The secretary reported that Director Mikhail Kisel was currently busy but would call back by lunchtime. There was no call by the specified time.
Now reading
At the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was greeted not only with a warm welcome, but also with an unexpectedly beautiful table 2121
Comments