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UraMin

UraMin is a Canadian company involved in uranium mining exploration, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since December 2006, and acquired by the French multinational Areva (now Orano) on June 15, 2007, for 1.8 billion euros, to secure its uranium supply.

UraMin
IndustryUranium mining exploration
FoundedFebruary 25, 2005
FateAcquired by Areva (Since 2007)
Total equityToronto Stock Exchange

In 2006, the price of nuclear fuel rose sharply. Over the winter, Uramin buys uranium deposits in Africa, but in 2008 these proved to be inoperable. This contributed to Areva's difficulties, as it found itself short of fuel for its customers, especially as the price of uranium finally fell in 2011, causing Uramin to lose all its value.

Areva's 2007 takeover bid for Uramin marked the beginning of the "UraMin affair". The press revealed this politico-financial scandal involving French, Canadian, and African entrepreneurs and politicians in the early 2010s. The intelligence services, the French National Assembly, the Cour des Comptes, and the French justice system investigated various aspects of the case. Gradually, revelations of espionage, corruption, fraud, and conflicts of interest accumulated in the press.

Including losses, Uramin cost Areva over 3 billion euros. Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon was dismissed in 2011.

Saraya
Arlit
Bakouma
Trekkopje
Maradi
Beaufort West
class=notpageimage|
Uranium deposits owned by Uramin

History edit

2005: Creation of Uramin Inc. edit

On December 20, 2004, the French company "Cogema Développement 1" was created, to become the holding company Uramin Holding.[1][2]

On February 25, 2005, Uramin Inc. was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (a UK tax haven).[3] Uramin was created by Stephen Dattels and James Mellon, owners of uranium deposits in Africa listed on the London and Toronto markets.[4] Stephen Dattels is one of the founders of mining company Barrick Gold. The Quebec newspaper La Presse traced him to two other stock market operations that went awry.[5] James Mellon, co-founder of Uramin, had already been prosecuted by financial prosecutors in South Korea.[6]

In May 2005, Stephen Dattels and his associates secured the rights to Trekkopje by purchasing Gulf Western Trading Namibia from businessman George Christodoulou[6] for $4.365 million. Thousands of American investors, including stars Elvis Presley,[7] Johnny Carson and Alice Cooper, believe they were cheated in an allegedly fraudulent project by Christodoulou in Namibia in the late 1970s.[5]

In October 2005, Stephen Dattels acquired 6,000 ha around the Ryst Kuil deposit in South Africa for $1 million.[6]

2006: IPO and speculation edit

Uramin was floated on the high-risk London Stock Exchange in April 2006.[8]

In May 2006, Uramin acquired three new mining licenses for $27 million a few kilometers north of Bakouma in the Central African Republic.[6]

In 2006, Olivier Fric, a consultant specializing in energy issues and Anne Lauvergeon's husband,[9] passed on the curriculum vitae of Belgian financier Daniel Wouters, who was subsequently hired in April by Areva as head of development and acquisitions for its mining division[10] to act as an intermediary in the takeover of Canadian company UraMin. According to the daily newspaper Libération, Daniel Wouters is financially linked to Uramin shareholders Mellon and Dattels.[11]

Estimates of Uramin's deposits were initially carried out by SRK Consulting, a consulting firm commissioned by UraMin to audit its reserves.

On October 17, 2006, Uramin proposed to Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon that it be bought out for $471 million. However, Mrs. Lauvergeon did not immediately respond to this offer. At the end of October, Mrs. Lauvergeon received a letter from Samuel Jonah, chairman of the Board of Directors of UraMin, putting an end to the discussions and suggesting that she contact him again in early 2007.[12]

On October 22, 2006, in Canada, the Cigar Lake mine (the world's second-largest uranium mine, 37% owned by Areva) flooded for the second time in a row,[13] for the same reasons that the McArthur uranium mine13 had been blocked for six months in April 2003: the artificial protective ice wall[14][15][15] was not enough to block the moisture coming from underground. Uranium prices soared.[16]

In December 2006, eight months after listing on the London Stock Exchange, Uramin was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.[8]

2007: acquisition of UraMin edit

 
Spot uranium prices between 1980 and 2012

Following the IPO in December 2006, Uramin's share price was the subject of intense speculation in the spring of 2007. The reason for this was a flurry of promises and declarations by the two owners. In just a few months, the share price tripled.[17]

In 2007, the spot price of uranium hit an all-time high ($135 per pound) due to a "uranium shortage that could hit nuclear power plants in the next thirty to forty years",[18] but quickly fell below $100 after the acquisition of UraMin in the summer of 2007, then below $50 following the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011.

UraMin, a young Canadian start-up in 2007, had never mined uranium before. Its assets consisted of projects, many of which had been identified by French entities (CEA, Cogema, etc.) that were gradually merged into Areva.

UraMin's properties are located in 5 African countries:[19]

  • Namibia (Trekkopje uranium mine, UraMin's main deposit, whose uranium content was initially estimated at 90,000 tonnes, then revised downwards to 45,000 tonnes, then 26,000 tonnes);[20]
  • in the Central African Republic (Bakouma uranium deposit); the Bakouma deposit was initially discovered in 1947 by the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), when the Central African Republic was a French colony within the federation of French Equatorial Africa;[21]
  • South Africa: Ryst Kuil project, 30 km southeast of Beaufort West.[22]
  • Senegal (Saraya), 80 km northwest of Faléa (Mali)
  • in Niger (Kamas, 75 km north of Arlit, and Dabala, 40 km northeast of Maradi).

These projects had been abandoned by their inventors, who considered them unprofitable. URAMIN was able to add these assets to its portfolio at a very low cost. However, the company was acquired by the Areva group in the summer of 2007 at a very high price.

In March 2007, Areva first announced the purchase of 5.5% of Uramin's capital, causing the share price to soar, before buying the entire company three months later for $2.5 billion.[23][24]

On May 2, 2007, between the two rounds of the 2007 presidential election, Areva executives reached an agreement in London with the sellers of Uramin to set the timetable for the takeover bid.[25] The decision was taken under the authority of Anne Lauvergeon, with the a priori approval of the Agence des participations de l'État (APE, which holds 87% of Areva's capital), and at a time when Luc Oursel (future Chairman of Areva) was already present (since March 2007) on the (Areva) Management Board, which he joined in January 2007. On June 15, Areva announced that the purchase had been completed for $2.5 billion (€1.8 billion).[15]

Areva had been prevented from acquiring the Australian giant Olympic Dam and had been unable to acquire Summit Resources,[26] but the deal went ahead. It was carried out with relative urgency, Areva arguing that "UraMin has set May 31, 2007 as the deadline for a transaction to purchase its shares";[18] on June 15, 2007, "Areva announced a tender offer for Uramin based on a price of US$7.7 per share, representing an attractive premium excluding dividends of 21% over the 20-day weighted average share price as of June 8, 2007. Areva's press release states that UraMin's Board of Directors considered the offer "to be in the best interests of [its] shareholders".[18] The price paid by Areva was therefore around ten times higher than UraMin's share price six months earlier.

On January 2, 2008, Sébastien de Montessus became Chairman of Uramin Holding, a société par actions simplifiée (simplified joint-stock company) based on rue La Fayette (Paris),[2] as well as Director of the Areva Group's Mining Business Unit.

2008: Areva's first difficulties edit

In 2008, Areva's partner China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC) was due to buy 49% of UraMin, but this never happened.[27] However, CGNPC is said to have made direct access to uranium supplies a condition of the purchase of the EPR reactors (Taishan nuclear power plant).[18]

Until March 2008, no Areva employees were allowed to visit Uramin sites in the Central African Republic, which was contesting the acquisition of Uramin's local subsidiary, Uramin CAR. The Central African Republic demanded 250 million euros from Areva for access to the deposit.[28] This is why, in April 2008, Belgian entrepreneur George Forrest and Patrick Balkany, deputy mayor (UMP) of Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine), acted as intermediaries in Areva's purchase of UraMin's Central African uranium mines.[29][30] On August 1, 2008, Anne Lauvergeon signed an amendment to the Bakouma mining concession contract, committing the company to pay forty million dollars to the Central African state.[31]

2009: French secret service investigation edit

According to geopolitical expert Vincent Crouzet, the Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCI) began investigating the Uramin case as early as 2009, interviewing Pakistani businessman Saïfee Durbar, who had been asked by Central African President François Bozizé to look into the Uramin affair.[32]

On October 28, 2009, Vincent Crouzet met with Saïfee Durbar at his home in London (Ilchester Place, near Holland Park) and spoke at length with him about the Uramin affair.[6]

2010: launch of a government audit edit

In February 2010, Admiral Thierry d'Arbonneau, Areva's Director of Safety, recruited Marc Eichinger, a business intelligence expert with the consulting firm Assistance Petroleum International Capital (APIC), to investigate the Uramin takeover. The investigation report was delivered on April 10, 2010, to the office of Areva's safety director, and concluded that the deal was "highly dubious and potentially fraudulent".[6]

In April 2010, the French state shareholder was alarmed and appointed René Ricol (a chartered accountant) to chair the audit committee of Areva's supervisory board, and to clarify accounts deemed lacking in transparency, notably concerning the recent acquisition of UraMin. He "made provisions of 426 million euros in 2010 for UraMin uranium quantities, and included a paragraph in the notes to the annual financial statements referring to chemical tests that were not very good".

On April 16, 2010, Anne Lauvergeon and Hage Geingob, Minister of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Namibia, inaugurated Namibia's first seawater desalination plant, located near the Trekkopje site. Designed to supply water to Areva's future mine, the plant cost $250 million to build.[33]

2011: French parliamentary audit and suspension of projects in Africa edit

On February 2, 2011, Sébastien de Montessus met with Swiss detective Mario Brero at the Kempinski Hotel in Geneva to commission him to investigate the Uramin takeover, and in particular Anne Lauvergeon and her husband Olivier Fric.[34]

On April 23, 2011, Paris Match revealed that "the African deposits of subsidiary UraMin have still not produced a single gram of uranium".[35]

On June 21, 2011, the French National Assembly launched a financial audit of EDF and Areva, to examine the terms of the Uramin takeover. Member of Parliament Marc Goua expressed surprise that Areva had not detected the overvaluation of resources announced by UraMin. He was astonished that "the Agence des participations de l'État, which was initially very cautious about the dossier, considered it a great victory in July 2007", but a few months later, Areva had to make provisions of 2.36 billion in its budget to settle its debts. The audit found no trace of illegal interest-taking, but based on the names of UraMin shareholders (confidential), it was considered possible that they were trust companies operating in the tax haven where UraMin was based.[18]

At the end of October 2011, Sébastien de Montessus, then head of mining at Areva, travelled to Bangui to inform Central African President François Bozizé that the Bakouma uranium mine project had been frozen.[36]

On December 13, 2011, Areva announced that it was suspending its investments in uranium mining projects at Ryst Kuil in South Africa and the Trekkopje uranium mine in Namibia.[37] After investing 1 billion euros in the Trekkopje mine's infrastructure - including a seawater desalination plant - Areva announces the mine's closure due to lack of economic profitability.[38] Areva's supervisory board also announced that it had launched an internal investigation into the UraMin takeover "to examine the conditions under which UraMin was acquired and operated, and to draw lessons for the Group"; the investigation will be conducted by three "independent" members of the board, aiming for a conclusion by early 2012.[26]

At the end of 2011, Areva's takeover of Uramin was the subject of controversy, before proving to be a source of heavy financial losses. A further 80% write-down of the mining company's value took place because the deposit turned out to be less rich in uranium than announced,[24] and due to a drop in uranium prices,[26] particularly after the Fukushima nuclear accident.

At the same time, Luc Oursel, newly appointed Chairman of Areva's management board in June 2011, commissioned lawyer Jean Reinhart to produce a report on the UraMin[39] fiasco.

Secret wars and Swiss spies edit

In December 2011, several French media outlets revealed that Anne Lauvergeon had filed a complaint for "complicity and concealment in the violation of professional secrecy".[40]

Sébastien de Montessus, head of the group's mining division, and a number of Areva executives had allegedly commissioned an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Uramin transaction, and in particular the murky role played by Anne Lauvergeon's husband, Olivier Fric.[41] The investigation resulted in a 15-page report entitled "Pomerol 4", which was delivered "by an anonymous hand" to Anne Lauvergeon, who then discovered its existence.[42]

Anne Lauvergeon files a complaint in Paris against the Swiss investigation company, its director Mario Brero and Sébastien de Montessus46.[43] She believes she is the victim of a plot to destabilize her, orchestrated by a handful of executives - chief among them Areva's Mining Director, Sébastien de Montessus - to oust her.[44]

According to information on the "Pomerol 4" report published in the press, the telephone numbers dialed by Olivier Fric "include that of a banker working for Liechtenstein Global Trust (LGT) and those of other banks, Clariden Leu and Crédit Suisse. Not enough to support suspicions of illicit enrichment through the purchase of Uramin, but enough to "suggest that Mr. Fric holds assets hidden illegally in Switzerland".[45]

2012: South Africa revelations and spy scandal edit

Areva and the corruption of the South African regime edit

Uramin's main shareholder - he holds 26% - is Samuel Esson Jonas. This Ghanaian businessman, knighted by the Queen of England, sits on some boards, including that of Vodafone, where he met Anne Lauvergeon.[17]

A well-documented article, the Mail On Guardian, a reference in the South African press, details how the clan of South African President Thabo Mbeki had been largely fuelled by the sale of Uramin. At the time of the Uramin sale, the President of South Africa was dangling a huge nuclear power plant construction contract worth over 100 billion euros in front of Areva.[46] A surprising detail is that Areva's Anne Lauvergeon and Uramin's Ghanaian Sam Jonah sat together on the International Investment Council, the body appointed by Thabo Mbeki to steer South Africa's economic policy.[46]

At the time, Areva was battling fiercely against Toshiba-Westinghouse to sell Pretoria 2 nuclear reactors (3,500 MW), while additional reactors of up to 20,000 MW were being discussed.[47]

According to an anonymous Uramin witness quoted in the South African newspaper:[47]

"The deal was for Areva to buy Uramin and win the tender in return. Areva was paying too much for Uramin - which was worth half as much. But the French group was going to win contracts for reactors and an enrichment plant, worth ten times as much."

Evacuation of the Bakouma site edit

At the end of June 2012, the Lord's Resistance Army attacked Areva's Bakouma site in the Central African Republic.[48] On September 21, 2012, Areva definitively evacuated the Bakouma site and 150 workers were laid off.[49]

2013: sale of the South African deposit edit

In December 2013, Areva sold its mining rights at Ryst Kuil to Australian company Peninsula Energy Ltd for $5 million.[50]

2014: new disclosures edit

On April 4, 2014, writer Vincent Crouzet published a Roman à clef entitled Radioactive, in which he recounts a story similar to Areva's purchase of Uramin, during which kickbacks were obtained by the imaginary company Murena (Areva).[51]

On April 10, 2014, journalists Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme published an article in the daily Le Monde revealing that the financial prosecutor's office had opened an investigation into Anne Lauvergeon's suspicious purchase of UraMin.[52]

In May 2014, a pre-report by the French Cour des Comptes on Areva's management under Anne Lauvergeon highlighted "the concentration of real power in the hands of the CEO".[53]

On May 16, 2014, Mario Brero and Sébastien de Montessus were summoned to appear before the 17th Chamber of the Correctional Court to explain themselves.[42][54] At the end of a day of theatrical hearings, Sébastien de Montessus is acquitted in full, while Mario Brero is acquitted of all charges.[55]

On June 3, 2014, as part of an investigation into the takeover of Uramin, police officers carried out a dozen searches at Areva and the home of its former president Anne Lauvergeon.[56] Vincent Crouzet was also questioned for seven hours by the Paris financial brigade, as a witness. He is "firmly convinced that this affair was set up to distribute considerable sums of money to high-level personalities, both African and French".[57] According to him, Uramin was used to "pay commissions linked to the development of EPR programs around the world, and particularly in South Africa".[58]

On November 2, 2014, the Republic of Central Africa referred to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office a request for a judicial investigation into Patrick Balkany, suspected of having been one of the beneficiaries of the payment of kickbacks in the Uramin affair.[59]

In December 2014, the newspaper Mediapart revealed that, before the purchase of Uramin, several Areva employees had tried in vain to alert government departments.[60]

2015: corruption investigation against Patrick Balkany edit

At the end of 2014, the Central African Republic complained with the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office. According to the complaint, Patrick Balkany was involved in alleged embezzlement during the purchase of Uramin in 2007.[61] In 2015, the Paris financial prosecutor's office opened an investigation into Patrick Balkany for bribery of a foreign public official.

The UMP deputy mayor of Levallois is suspected of having acted as an intermediary in settling a dispute between Areva and the previous Central African government.[62]

According to Saifee Durbar, a Pakistani businessman and advisor to Central African President François Bozizé, Balkany was working alongside George Forrest as early as 2007 to represent Areva's interests in the Central African Republic.[32] Patrick Balkany is said to have received $8 million, paid into an account in Singapore, which he denies.[63]

On May 28, 2015, the French justice system, relying on the 2014 preliminary report by the Cour des Comptes, announced the opening of two judicial inquiries against X. The first, which concerns the conditions and circumstances of the Uramin purchase, is open for "fraud, misuse of corporate assets, corruption of a foreign public official". The second was opened for "dissemination of false information to the markets, presentation of inaccurate accounts, abuse of power, forgery and use of forgeries".[8]

2016: new revelations of corruption edit

On February 16, 2016, South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale was accused of taking around $200 million in bribes on the sidelines of Areva's 2007 takeover of mining company Uramin, to open up the South African market for the construction of several EPR reactors.[64]

On March 30, 2016, Olivier Fric was indicted for "insider trading" and "money laundering" in the Uramin[65] affair. The affair was revealed in August 2015 by journalists Hervé Gattegno and Philippe Vasset of Vanity Fair magazine, whose main source is Mario Bréro, the head of Swiss investigative firm Alp Services, a specialist in the Uramin affair.[66]

In May 2016, Anne Lauvergeon was indicted as part of the investigation into the acquisition of UraMin for "presenting and publishing inaccurate accounts and disseminating false information". She has been placed under assisted witness status.[67]

On May 4, 2016, Vincent Crouzet revealed that businessman Stephen Dattels, who sold UraMin to Areva, is one of the biggest donors to US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's Clinton Foundation.[68]

On October 12, Reuters revealed, from a judicial source, that "Areva's former CFO, Alain-Pierre Raynaud, has been indicted in the investigation into the valuation of the mining company Uramin." The charges relate to "the presentation and publication of inaccurate accounts and the dissemination of false information."[69]

At the end of 2016, the US justice system asked the FBI to investigate Areva's takeover of Uramin.[70]

2017 - 2018: legal proceedings edit

The Uramin affair is at the heart of two judicial inquiries: one into accounting, the other into fraud.

Inaccurate accounting edit

Anne Lauvergeon, President of the Areva Group (now Orano) from 2001 to 2011, and two other former executives are under investigation in an accounting case. They are suspected by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office of having concealed in their accounts the loss in value of the Uramin company following its takeover by Areva in 2007. Indeed, Areva's 2010 balance sheet shows only 426 million euros in provisions for Uramin's assets, whereas a few months later, at the end of June 2011 after Anne Lauvergeon's departure, 1.456 billion euros were finally provisioned. This investigation follows on from that of 2016.

In January 2017, the investigating judges summoned Pascal Colin, Areva's auditor at Deloitte. He was placed under assisted witness status. Then it was the former chairman of Areva's audit committee, René Ricol, who was summoned by judges Renaud Van Ruymbeke, Claire Thépaut and Charlotte Bilger.[71] On November 28, Areva's head office in La Défense was searched in connection with the affair.

On May 5, 2017, the national financial prosecutor's office requested the indictment of Anne Lauvergeon, Gérald Arbola, Alain-Pierre Raynaud, Thierry Noircler (former audit director), Sébastien de Montessus and Nicolas Nouveau (former Areva CFO) for obstructing the statutory auditors' mission. In addition, the public prosecutor's office is requesting that Sébastien de Montessus and Nicolas Nouveau be charged with complicity in the presentation of inaccurate annual accounts and the dissemination of misleading information. When the examining magistrates refused to proceed with these new indictments, the public prosecutor's office applied to the Paris Court of Appeal, which upheld this request in October 2018.[72]

Fraud section edit

An investigation has been opened into suspicions of embezzlement. In particular, the investigation concerns two contracts in 2009 and 2010 representing an expenditure of $6.9 million in favor of the Namibian mining group United Africa Group (UAG), and monthly payments of $10,000 in 2008 and 2009 to Hage Geingob, then Namibian Minister of Trade and Industry.

In addition, Olivier Fric, Anne Lauvergeon's husband, is under investigation for insider trading in connection with the Uramin takeover.

Finally, Sébastien de Montessus is also suspected of corruption. He was allegedly paid 750,000 euros for acting as an intermediary in the sale of a yacht.[73]

Timeline edit

  • April 2006: Uramin listed on the London Stock Exchange's High-Risk Market.[8]
  • April 2006: Daniel Wouters, a Belgian, is appointed Head of Development and Mining Acquisitions at Areva.[10]
  • May 2006: Uramin acquires three new mining permits for $27 million in the Central African Republic.[6]
  • October 17, 2006: Anne Lauvergeon did not respond to Uramin's offer to be bought for $471 million.
  • October 17, 2006: failure to open the world's second-largest uranium mine, 37% owned by Areva. Ground freezing failed to prevent flooding. Soaring uranium prices.[16]
  • December 2006: Uramin listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.[8]
  • March 2007: Luc Oursel, hired in January 2007, joins Areva's management board.
  • March 2007: Areva acquires a 5.5% stake in Uramin
  • May 2, 2007: Areva signs a memorandum of understanding with Uramin in London to set the timetable for the takeover bid.
  • August 1, 2008: Areva agrees to pay the Central African Republic $40 million to secure the Bakouma mining concession.[31]
  • 2008: the Chinese electricity company CGNPC, which had demanded 49% of Uramin to buy the reactors at the Taishan[18] power plant to secure their uranium supply despite soaring prices, no longer exercises its option.
  • February 2010: Thierry d'Arbonneau, Areva's safety director, recruits Marc Eichinger for a secret investigation into the Uramin takeover bid.
  • April 10, 2010: the investigation report concludes that the operation is "highly dubious and potentially fraudulent ".[6]
  • March 2011: Fukushima nuclear accident, the price of uranium falls below $50 a pound, compared with $135 in 2007.
  • June 16, 2011: the Élysée appointed Luc Oursel to succeed Anne Lauvergeon as head of Areva77. Areva's supervisory board approved the decision five days later.[74]
  • 11 octobre 2011: Gilles Carrez's report to the French National Assembly.
  • March 2016: Olivier Fric was indicted for insider trading and money laundering.

See also edit

References edit

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  3. ^ "UraMin". archive.wikiwix.com. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  4. ^ "Areva de l'uranium payé à prix d'or - ParisMatch.com". archive.wikiwix.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-03-30.
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  7. ^ "UraMin : avant Areva, Elvis Presley s'était déjà fait plumer…". Capital.fr (in French). 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
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  29. ^ à 08h08, Par Le 7 février 2012 (2012-02-07). "Affaire UraMin : quand Balkany jouait les intermédiaires en Afrique". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-03-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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Bibliography edit

  • Adams, Lestyn; Morrall, Andre (2008). UraMin, a Team Enriched: How to Build a Junior Uranium Mining Company.
  • Granvaud, Raphaël (2010-02-15). Areva en Afrique: Une face cachée du nucléaire français. Quimperlé: Agone. ISBN 978-274-890156-6.
  • Crouzet, Vincent (2014). Radioactif. Belfond. ISBN 978-271-445651-9.
  • Perez, Jean-Louis (2014). Anne Lauvergeon, le pouvoir à tout prix. Fouesnant: Le Seuil. ISBN 978-202-118250-7.
  • Crouzet, Vincent (2017). Une affaire atomique. Robert Laffont. ISBN 978-222-119773-8.
  • Eichinger, Marc (2020). L’homme qui en savait beaucoup trop - Révélations d'un agent au cœur des secrets d’État. Massot. ISBN 978-238-035260-3.

Documentaries edit

  • Uramin / Areva: industrial fiasco or a vast swindle? archive - Jacques Monin's October 24, 2014 France Inter interview.
  • The UraMin scandal archive - Rendez-vous avec X broadcasts of January 10 and 17, 2015 on France Inter
  • Areva & Uramin The French nuclear time bomb archive - Webdocumentary produced by ARTE Info and broadcast in May 2015.
  • Uramin: AREVA's hidden scandal archive - Affaires sensibles broadcast on Tuesday, February 9, 2016, on France Inter.

uramin, canadian, company, involved, uranium, mining, exploration, listed, toronto, stock, exchange, since, december, 2006, acquired, french, multinational, areva, orano, june, 2007, billion, euros, secure, uranium, supply, industryuranium, mining, exploration. UraMin is a Canadian company involved in uranium mining exploration listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since December 2006 and acquired by the French multinational Areva now Orano on June 15 2007 for 1 8 billion euros to secure its uranium supply UraMinIndustryUranium mining explorationFoundedFebruary 25 2005FateAcquired by Areva Since 2007 Total equityToronto Stock ExchangeIn 2006 the price of nuclear fuel rose sharply Over the winter Uramin buys uranium deposits in Africa but in 2008 these proved to be inoperable This contributed to Areva s difficulties as it found itself short of fuel for its customers especially as the price of uranium finally fell in 2011 causing Uramin to lose all its value Areva s 2007 takeover bid for Uramin marked the beginning of the UraMin affair The press revealed this politico financial scandal involving French Canadian and African entrepreneurs and politicians in the early 2010s The intelligence services the French National Assembly the Cour des Comptes and the French justice system investigated various aspects of the case Gradually revelations of espionage corruption fraud and conflicts of interest accumulated in the press Including losses Uramin cost Areva over 3 billion euros Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon was dismissed in 2011 SarayaArlitBakoumaTrekkopjeMaradiBeaufort Westclass notpageimage Uranium deposits owned by Uramin Contents 1 History 1 1 2005 Creation of Uramin Inc 1 2 2006 IPO and speculation 1 3 2007 acquisition of UraMin 1 4 2008 Areva s first difficulties 1 5 2009 French secret service investigation 1 6 2010 launch of a government audit 1 7 2011 French parliamentary audit and suspension of projects in Africa 1 8 Secret wars and Swiss spies 2 2012 South Africa revelations and spy scandal 2 1 Areva and the corruption of the South African regime 2 2 Evacuation of the Bakouma site 2 3 2013 sale of the South African deposit 2 4 2014 new disclosures 2 5 2015 corruption investigation against Patrick Balkany 2 6 2016 new revelations of corruption 3 2017 2018 legal proceedings 3 1 Inaccurate accounting 3 2 Fraud section 4 Timeline 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 DocumentariesHistory edit2005 Creation of Uramin Inc edit On December 20 2004 the French company Cogema Developpement 1 was created to become the holding company Uramin Holding 1 2 On February 25 2005 Uramin Inc was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands a UK tax haven 3 Uramin was created by Stephen Dattels and James Mellon owners of uranium deposits in Africa listed on the London and Toronto markets 4 Stephen Dattels is one of the founders of mining company Barrick Gold The Quebec newspaper La Presse traced him to two other stock market operations that went awry 5 James Mellon co founder of Uramin had already been prosecuted by financial prosecutors in South Korea 6 In May 2005 Stephen Dattels and his associates secured the rights to Trekkopje by purchasing Gulf Western Trading Namibia from businessman George Christodoulou 6 for 4 365 million Thousands of American investors including stars Elvis Presley 7 Johnny Carson and Alice Cooper believe they were cheated in an allegedly fraudulent project by Christodoulou in Namibia in the late 1970s 5 In October 2005 Stephen Dattels acquired 6 000 ha around the Ryst Kuil deposit in South Africa for 1 million 6 2006 IPO and speculation edit Uramin was floated on the high risk London Stock Exchange in April 2006 8 In May 2006 Uramin acquired three new mining licenses for 27 million a few kilometers north of Bakouma in the Central African Republic 6 In 2006 Olivier Fric a consultant specializing in energy issues and Anne Lauvergeon s husband 9 passed on the curriculum vitae of Belgian financier Daniel Wouters who was subsequently hired in April by Areva as head of development and acquisitions for its mining division 10 to act as an intermediary in the takeover of Canadian company UraMin According to the daily newspaper Liberation Daniel Wouters is financially linked to Uramin shareholders Mellon and Dattels 11 Estimates of Uramin s deposits were initially carried out by SRK Consulting a consulting firm commissioned by UraMin to audit its reserves On October 17 2006 Uramin proposed to Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon that it be bought out for 471 million However Mrs Lauvergeon did not immediately respond to this offer At the end of October Mrs Lauvergeon received a letter from Samuel Jonah chairman of the Board of Directors of UraMin putting an end to the discussions and suggesting that she contact him again in early 2007 12 On October 22 2006 in Canada the Cigar Lake mine the world s second largest uranium mine 37 owned by Areva flooded for the second time in a row 13 for the same reasons that the McArthur uranium mine13 had been blocked for six months in April 2003 the artificial protective ice wall 14 15 15 was not enough to block the moisture coming from underground Uranium prices soared 16 In December 2006 eight months after listing on the London Stock Exchange Uramin was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange 8 2007 acquisition of UraMin edit nbsp Spot uranium prices between 1980 and 2012Following the IPO in December 2006 Uramin s share price was the subject of intense speculation in the spring of 2007 The reason for this was a flurry of promises and declarations by the two owners In just a few months the share price tripled 17 In 2007 the spot price of uranium hit an all time high 135 per pound due to a uranium shortage that could hit nuclear power plants in the next thirty to forty years 18 but quickly fell below 100 after the acquisition of UraMin in the summer of 2007 then below 50 following the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 UraMin a young Canadian start up in 2007 had never mined uranium before Its assets consisted of projects many of which had been identified by French entities CEA Cogema etc that were gradually merged into Areva UraMin s properties are located in 5 African countries 19 Namibia Trekkopje uranium mine UraMin s main deposit whose uranium content was initially estimated at 90 000 tonnes then revised downwards to 45 000 tonnes then 26 000 tonnes 20 in the Central African Republic Bakouma uranium deposit the Bakouma deposit was initially discovered in 1947 by the French Atomic Energy Commission CEA when the Central African Republic was a French colony within the federation of French Equatorial Africa 21 South Africa Ryst Kuil project 30 km southeast of Beaufort West 22 Senegal Saraya 80 km northwest of Falea Mali in Niger Kamas 75 km north of Arlit and Dabala 40 km northeast of Maradi These projects had been abandoned by their inventors who considered them unprofitable URAMIN was able to add these assets to its portfolio at a very low cost However the company was acquired by the Areva group in the summer of 2007 at a very high price In March 2007 Areva first announced the purchase of 5 5 of Uramin s capital causing the share price to soar before buying the entire company three months later for 2 5 billion 23 24 On May 2 2007 between the two rounds of the 2007 presidential election Areva executives reached an agreement in London with the sellers of Uramin to set the timetable for the takeover bid 25 The decision was taken under the authority of Anne Lauvergeon with the a priori approval of the Agence des participations de l Etat APE which holds 87 of Areva s capital and at a time when Luc Oursel future Chairman of Areva was already present since March 2007 on the Areva Management Board which he joined in January 2007 On June 15 Areva announced that the purchase had been completed for 2 5 billion 1 8 billion 15 Areva had been prevented from acquiring the Australian giant Olympic Dam and had been unable to acquire Summit Resources 26 but the deal went ahead It was carried out with relative urgency Areva arguing that UraMin has set May 31 2007 as the deadline for a transaction to purchase its shares 18 on June 15 2007 Areva announced a tender offer for Uramin based on a price of US 7 7 per share representing an attractive premium excluding dividends of 21 over the 20 day weighted average share price as of June 8 2007 Areva s press release states that UraMin s Board of Directors considered the offer to be in the best interests of its shareholders 18 The price paid by Areva was therefore around ten times higher than UraMin s share price six months earlier On January 2 2008 Sebastien de Montessus became Chairman of Uramin Holding a societe par actions simplifiee simplified joint stock company based on rue La Fayette Paris 2 as well as Director of the Areva Group s Mining Business Unit 2008 Areva s first difficulties edit In 2008 Areva s partner China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company CGNPC was due to buy 49 of UraMin but this never happened 27 However CGNPC is said to have made direct access to uranium supplies a condition of the purchase of the EPR reactors Taishan nuclear power plant 18 Until March 2008 no Areva employees were allowed to visit Uramin sites in the Central African Republic which was contesting the acquisition of Uramin s local subsidiary Uramin CAR The Central African Republic demanded 250 million euros from Areva for access to the deposit 28 This is why in April 2008 Belgian entrepreneur George Forrest and Patrick Balkany deputy mayor UMP of Levallois Perret Hauts de Seine acted as intermediaries in Areva s purchase of UraMin s Central African uranium mines 29 30 On August 1 2008 Anne Lauvergeon signed an amendment to the Bakouma mining concession contract committing the company to pay forty million dollars to the Central African state 31 2009 French secret service investigation edit According to geopolitical expert Vincent Crouzet the Direction Centrale du Renseignement Interieur DCI began investigating the Uramin case as early as 2009 interviewing Pakistani businessman Saifee Durbar who had been asked by Central African President Francois Bozize to look into the Uramin affair 32 On October 28 2009 Vincent Crouzet met with Saifee Durbar at his home in London Ilchester Place near Holland Park and spoke at length with him about the Uramin affair 6 2010 launch of a government audit edit In February 2010 Admiral Thierry d Arbonneau Areva s Director of Safety recruited Marc Eichinger a business intelligence expert with the consulting firm Assistance Petroleum International Capital APIC to investigate the Uramin takeover The investigation report was delivered on April 10 2010 to the office of Areva s safety director and concluded that the deal was highly dubious and potentially fraudulent 6 In April 2010 the French state shareholder was alarmed and appointed Rene Ricol a chartered accountant to chair the audit committee of Areva s supervisory board and to clarify accounts deemed lacking in transparency notably concerning the recent acquisition of UraMin He made provisions of 426 million euros in 2010 for UraMin uranium quantities and included a paragraph in the notes to the annual financial statements referring to chemical tests that were not very good On April 16 2010 Anne Lauvergeon and Hage Geingob Minister of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Namibia inaugurated Namibia s first seawater desalination plant located near the Trekkopje site Designed to supply water to Areva s future mine the plant cost 250 million to build 33 2011 French parliamentary audit and suspension of projects in Africa edit On February 2 2011 Sebastien de Montessus met with Swiss detective Mario Brero at the Kempinski Hotel in Geneva to commission him to investigate the Uramin takeover and in particular Anne Lauvergeon and her husband Olivier Fric 34 On April 23 2011 Paris Match revealed that the African deposits of subsidiary UraMin have still not produced a single gram of uranium 35 On June 21 2011 the French National Assembly launched a financial audit of EDF and Areva to examine the terms of the Uramin takeover Member of Parliament Marc Goua expressed surprise that Areva had not detected the overvaluation of resources announced by UraMin He was astonished that the Agence des participations de l Etat which was initially very cautious about the dossier considered it a great victory in July 2007 but a few months later Areva had to make provisions of 2 36 billion in its budget to settle its debts The audit found no trace of illegal interest taking but based on the names of UraMin shareholders confidential it was considered possible that they were trust companies operating in the tax haven where UraMin was based 18 At the end of October 2011 Sebastien de Montessus then head of mining at Areva travelled to Bangui to inform Central African President Francois Bozize that the Bakouma uranium mine project had been frozen 36 On December 13 2011 Areva announced that it was suspending its investments in uranium mining projects at Ryst Kuil in South Africa and the Trekkopje uranium mine in Namibia 37 After investing 1 billion euros in the Trekkopje mine s infrastructure including a seawater desalination plant Areva announces the mine s closure due to lack of economic profitability 38 Areva s supervisory board also announced that it had launched an internal investigation into the UraMin takeover to examine the conditions under which UraMin was acquired and operated and to draw lessons for the Group the investigation will be conducted by three independent members of the board aiming for a conclusion by early 2012 26 At the end of 2011 Areva s takeover of Uramin was the subject of controversy before proving to be a source of heavy financial losses A further 80 write down of the mining company s value took place because the deposit turned out to be less rich in uranium than announced 24 and due to a drop in uranium prices 26 particularly after the Fukushima nuclear accident At the same time Luc Oursel newly appointed Chairman of Areva s management board in June 2011 commissioned lawyer Jean Reinhart to produce a report on the UraMin 39 fiasco Secret wars and Swiss spies edit In December 2011 several French media outlets revealed that Anne Lauvergeon had filed a complaint for complicity and concealment in the violation of professional secrecy 40 Sebastien de Montessus head of the group s mining division and a number of Areva executives had allegedly commissioned an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Uramin transaction and in particular the murky role played by Anne Lauvergeon s husband Olivier Fric 41 The investigation resulted in a 15 page report entitled Pomerol 4 which was delivered by an anonymous hand to Anne Lauvergeon who then discovered its existence 42 Anne Lauvergeon files a complaint in Paris against the Swiss investigation company its director Mario Brero and Sebastien de Montessus46 43 She believes she is the victim of a plot to destabilize her orchestrated by a handful of executives chief among them Areva s Mining Director Sebastien de Montessus to oust her 44 According to information on the Pomerol 4 report published in the press the telephone numbers dialed by Olivier Fric include that of a banker working for Liechtenstein Global Trust LGT and those of other banks Clariden Leu and Credit Suisse Not enough to support suspicions of illicit enrichment through the purchase of Uramin but enough to suggest that Mr Fric holds assets hidden illegally in Switzerland 45 2012 South Africa revelations and spy scandal editAreva and the corruption of the South African regime edit Uramin s main shareholder he holds 26 is Samuel Esson Jonas This Ghanaian businessman knighted by the Queen of England sits on some boards including that of Vodafone where he met Anne Lauvergeon 17 A well documented article the Mail On Guardian a reference in the South African press details how the clan of South African President Thabo Mbeki had been largely fuelled by the sale of Uramin At the time of the Uramin sale the President of South Africa was dangling a huge nuclear power plant construction contract worth over 100 billion euros in front of Areva 46 A surprising detail is that Areva s Anne Lauvergeon and Uramin s Ghanaian Sam Jonah sat together on the International Investment Council the body appointed by Thabo Mbeki to steer South Africa s economic policy 46 At the time Areva was battling fiercely against Toshiba Westinghouse to sell Pretoria 2 nuclear reactors 3 500 MW while additional reactors of up to 20 000 MW were being discussed 47 According to an anonymous Uramin witness quoted in the South African newspaper 47 The deal was for Areva to buy Uramin and win the tender in return Areva was paying too much for Uramin which was worth half as much But the French group was going to win contracts for reactors and an enrichment plant worth ten times as much Evacuation of the Bakouma site edit At the end of June 2012 the Lord s Resistance Army attacked Areva s Bakouma site in the Central African Republic 48 On September 21 2012 Areva definitively evacuated the Bakouma site and 150 workers were laid off 49 2013 sale of the South African deposit edit In December 2013 Areva sold its mining rights at Ryst Kuil to Australian company Peninsula Energy Ltd for 5 million 50 2014 new disclosures edit On April 4 2014 writer Vincent Crouzet published a Roman a clef entitled Radioactive in which he recounts a story similar to Areva s purchase of Uramin during which kickbacks were obtained by the imaginary company Murena Areva 51 On April 10 2014 journalists Gerard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme published an article in the daily Le Monde revealing that the financial prosecutor s office had opened an investigation into Anne Lauvergeon s suspicious purchase of UraMin 52 In May 2014 a pre report by the French Cour des Comptes on Areva s management under Anne Lauvergeon highlighted the concentration of real power in the hands of the CEO 53 On May 16 2014 Mario Brero and Sebastien de Montessus were summoned to appear before the 17th Chamber of the Correctional Court to explain themselves 42 54 At the end of a day of theatrical hearings Sebastien de Montessus is acquitted in full while Mario Brero is acquitted of all charges 55 On June 3 2014 as part of an investigation into the takeover of Uramin police officers carried out a dozen searches at Areva and the home of its former president Anne Lauvergeon 56 Vincent Crouzet was also questioned for seven hours by the Paris financial brigade as a witness He is firmly convinced that this affair was set up to distribute considerable sums of money to high level personalities both African and French 57 According to him Uramin was used to pay commissions linked to the development of EPR programs around the world and particularly in South Africa 58 On November 2 2014 the Republic of Central Africa referred to the National Financial Prosecutor s Office a request for a judicial investigation into Patrick Balkany suspected of having been one of the beneficiaries of the payment of kickbacks in the Uramin affair 59 In December 2014 the newspaper Mediapart revealed that before the purchase of Uramin several Areva employees had tried in vain to alert government departments 60 2015 corruption investigation against Patrick Balkany edit At the end of 2014 the Central African Republic complained with the French National Financial Prosecutor s Office According to the complaint Patrick Balkany was involved in alleged embezzlement during the purchase of Uramin in 2007 61 In 2015 the Paris financial prosecutor s office opened an investigation into Patrick Balkany for bribery of a foreign public official The UMP deputy mayor of Levallois is suspected of having acted as an intermediary in settling a dispute between Areva and the previous Central African government 62 According to Saifee Durbar a Pakistani businessman and advisor to Central African President Francois Bozize Balkany was working alongside George Forrest as early as 2007 to represent Areva s interests in the Central African Republic 32 Patrick Balkany is said to have received 8 million paid into an account in Singapore which he denies 63 On May 28 2015 the French justice system relying on the 2014 preliminary report by the Cour des Comptes announced the opening of two judicial inquiries against X The first which concerns the conditions and circumstances of the Uramin purchase is open for fraud misuse of corporate assets corruption of a foreign public official The second was opened for dissemination of false information to the markets presentation of inaccurate accounts abuse of power forgery and use of forgeries 8 2016 new revelations of corruption edit On February 16 2016 South Africa s Tokyo Sexwale was accused of taking around 200 million in bribes on the sidelines of Areva s 2007 takeover of mining company Uramin to open up the South African market for the construction of several EPR reactors 64 On March 30 2016 Olivier Fric was indicted for insider trading and money laundering in the Uramin 65 affair The affair was revealed in August 2015 by journalists Herve Gattegno and Philippe Vasset of Vanity Fair magazine whose main source is Mario Brero the head of Swiss investigative firm Alp Services a specialist in the Uramin affair 66 In May 2016 Anne Lauvergeon was indicted as part of the investigation into the acquisition of UraMin for presenting and publishing inaccurate accounts and disseminating false information She has been placed under assisted witness status 67 On May 4 2016 Vincent Crouzet revealed that businessman Stephen Dattels who sold UraMin to Areva is one of the biggest donors to US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton s Clinton Foundation 68 On October 12 Reuters revealed from a judicial source that Areva s former CFO Alain Pierre Raynaud has been indicted in the investigation into the valuation of the mining company Uramin The charges relate to the presentation and publication of inaccurate accounts and the dissemination of false information 69 At the end of 2016 the US justice system asked the FBI to investigate Areva s takeover of Uramin 70 2017 2018 legal proceedings editThe Uramin affair is at the heart of two judicial inquiries one into accounting the other into fraud Inaccurate accounting edit Anne Lauvergeon President of the Areva Group now Orano from 2001 to 2011 and two other former executives are under investigation in an accounting case They are suspected by the National Financial Prosecutor s Office of having concealed in their accounts the loss in value of the Uramin company following its takeover by Areva in 2007 Indeed Areva s 2010 balance sheet shows only 426 million euros in provisions for Uramin s assets whereas a few months later at the end of June 2011 after Anne Lauvergeon s departure 1 456 billion euros were finally provisioned This investigation follows on from that of 2016 In January 2017 the investigating judges summoned Pascal Colin Areva s auditor at Deloitte He was placed under assisted witness status Then it was the former chairman of Areva s audit committee Rene Ricol who was summoned by judges Renaud Van Ruymbeke Claire Thepaut and Charlotte Bilger 71 On November 28 Areva s head office in La Defense was searched in connection with the affair On May 5 2017 the national financial prosecutor s office requested the indictment of Anne Lauvergeon Gerald Arbola Alain Pierre Raynaud Thierry Noircler former audit director Sebastien de Montessus and Nicolas Nouveau former Areva CFO for obstructing the statutory auditors mission In addition the public prosecutor s office is requesting that Sebastien de Montessus and Nicolas Nouveau be charged with complicity in the presentation of inaccurate annual accounts and the dissemination of misleading information When the examining magistrates refused to proceed with these new indictments the public prosecutor s office applied to the Paris Court of Appeal which upheld this request in October 2018 72 Fraud section edit An investigation has been opened into suspicions of embezzlement In particular the investigation concerns two contracts in 2009 and 2010 representing an expenditure of 6 9 million in favor of the Namibian mining group United Africa Group UAG and monthly payments of 10 000 in 2008 and 2009 to Hage Geingob then Namibian Minister of Trade and Industry In addition Olivier Fric Anne Lauvergeon s husband is under investigation for insider trading in connection with the Uramin takeover Finally Sebastien de Montessus is also suspected of corruption He was allegedly paid 750 000 euros for acting as an intermediary in the sale of a yacht 73 Timeline editApril 2006 Uramin listed on the London Stock Exchange s High Risk Market 8 April 2006 Daniel Wouters a Belgian is appointed Head of Development and Mining Acquisitions at Areva 10 May 2006 Uramin acquires three new mining permits for 27 million in the Central African Republic 6 October 17 2006 Anne Lauvergeon did not respond to Uramin s offer to be bought for 471 million October 17 2006 failure to open the world s second largest uranium mine 37 owned by Areva Ground freezing failed to prevent flooding Soaring uranium prices 16 December 2006 Uramin listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange 8 March 2007 Luc Oursel hired in January 2007 joins Areva s management board March 2007 Areva acquires a 5 5 stake in Uramin May 2 2007 Areva signs a memorandum of understanding with Uramin in London to set the timetable for the takeover bid August 1 2008 Areva agrees to pay the Central African Republic 40 million to secure the Bakouma mining concession 31 2008 the Chinese electricity company CGNPC which had demanded 49 of Uramin to buy the reactors at the Taishan 18 power plant to secure their uranium supply despite soaring prices no longer exercises its option February 2010 Thierry d Arbonneau Areva s safety director recruits Marc Eichinger for a secret investigation into the Uramin takeover bid April 10 2010 the investigation report concludes that the operation is highly dubious and potentially fraudulent 6 March 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident the price of uranium falls below 50 a pound compared with 135 in 2007 June 16 2011 the Elysee appointed Luc Oursel to succeed Anne Lauvergeon as head of Areva77 Areva s supervisory board approved the decision five days later 74 11 octobre 2011 Gilles Carrez s report to the French National Assembly March 2016 Olivier Fric was indicted for insider trading and money laundering See also editRadioactive waste Nuclear power List of uranium projects nbsp Nuclear technology portal nbsp Africa portal nbsp Energy portalReferences edit Repertoire des entreprises controlees majoritairement par l Etat au 31 decembre 2009 Insee www insee fr Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b URAMIN HOLDING COURBEVOIE Chiffre d affaires resultat bilans sur SOCIETE COM 480093004 www societe com Retrieved 2024 03 30 UraMin archive wikiwix com Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva de l uranium paye a prix d or ParisMatch com archive wikiwix com in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b Affaires Economie finance finances personelles entreprises PME monde des affaires technologies La Presse in French 2024 03 30 Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b c d e f g h Crouzet Vincent 2017 Une affaire atomique Robert Laffont UraMin avant Areva Elvis Presley s etait deja fait plumer Capital fr in French 2012 05 02 Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b c d e ARTE the European culture TV channel free and on demand ARTE Retrieved 2024 03 30 Mounier Kuhn Angelique Un espion suisse juge a Paris archive wikiwix com Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b Rebondissement dans l affaire Areva UraMin le double jeu de Daniel Wouters Capital fr in French 2012 03 27 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Fansten Emmanuel Affaire Areva Uramin Swala un exploitant d or au cœur des operations Liberation in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Lamigeon Vincent 2012 02 01 UraMin etait pret a se vendre 471 millions de dollars a Areva Challenges in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Coup dur pour la mine d uranium de Cigar Lake reportage dans Le telejournal Saskatchewan Radio Canada 2006 Grangereau Philippe Le grenier a uranium du Canada Liberation in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b c Orano Acteur majeur de l energie et du combustible nucleaire orano group in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b Indices et Cotations tous les cours des matieres premieres www usinenouvelle com Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b Orange Martine 2014 05 14 Uramin Areva le scandale est enfin sur la place publique Mediapart in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b c d e f Rapport de l assemblee nationale francaise archive wikiwix com Retrieved 2024 03 30 Les Echos actualites en direct Economie Finance Marches Politique Entreprises Start up Les Echos in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Namibie comment la mine de Trekkopje a ete surevaluee par Areva RFI in French 2014 06 05 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva conflit sur l uranium en RCA Centre Afrique Le Blog Finance in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Le Cercle Les Echos lecercle lesechos fr Retrieved 2024 03 30 Uramin le scandale cache d AREVA du 09 fevrier 2016 France Inter in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b Sacher Alain Deneault amp William 2013 09 01 L industrie miniere reine du Canada Le Monde diplomatique in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Orange Martine 2014 12 08 Uramin l accord secret passe dans le dos de l Etat Mediapart in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b c Areva les zones d ombres du rachat d Uramin Le Monde fr in French 2012 01 13 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Askolovitch Le point de vue de Claude Une enquete parlementaire pourrait etre ouverte sur certaines acquisitions d Areva LeJDD fr in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva Et Ses Droles de Messieurs PDF Republique centrafricaine Technologie nucleaire Scribd Retrieved 2024 03 30 a 08h08 Par Le 7 fevrier 2012 2012 02 07 Affaire UraMin quand Balkany jouait les intermediaires en Afrique leparisien fr in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Uramin Areva fiasco industriel ou vaste escroquerie France Inter in French 2014 10 24 Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b Panapress 2008 08 03 Accord minier entre Bangui et le groupe francais Areva Afrik in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 a b EXCLUSIF La DCRI a enquete des 2009 sur le rachat d Uramin par Areva Le Nouvel Obs in French 2014 06 05 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Namibie AREVA inaugure la premiere usine de dessalement d eau de mer d Afrique Australe www businesswire com Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva Lauvergeon et les espions in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva de l uranium paye a prix d or parismatch com in French 2011 04 23 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Centrafrique Presse com Areva repousse de 1 a 2 ans un projet de mine d uranium en Centrafrique centrafrique presse in French Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva devoile son plan de reduction des couts Le Monde fr in French 2011 12 13 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Areva gele son projet minier de Trekkopje en Namibie Investir in French 2012 10 12 Retrieved 2024 03 30 Perez Jean Louis Lauvergeon Anne 2014 Le pouvoir a tout prix Seuil a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Info Match Un dirigeant d Areva a l origine de l espionnage d Anne Lauvergeon parismatch com in French 2011 12 22 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Olivier Fric l epoux d Anne Lauvergeon au coeur de possibles conflits d interets Le Monde fr in French 2014 05 16 Retrieved 2024 03 31 a b Carrure de montagne et souplesse de felin le curieux detective d Areva Le Nouvel Obs in French 2014 05 16 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Areva pourquoi le mari d Anne Lauvergeon aurait ete espionne Le Figaro in French 2013 10 01 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Bradley Simon Bradley Simon 2012 02 23 Les barbouzes suisses sortent de l ombre SWI swissinfo ch in Swiss French Retrieved 2024 03 31 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link letemps 2012 05 23 Le scandale Areva devoile les secretsde l espionnage economique Le Temps in French Retrieved 2024 04 01 a b French nuclear frontrunner s toxic political dealings in SA The Mail amp Guardian 2012 08 03 Retrieved 2024 03 31 a b Areva l affaire Uramin rebondit en Afrique du Sud La Tribune in French 2012 08 10 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Towe Renaud 2012 07 11 Ouganda l Armee de resistance du Seigneur demeure une menace pour les populations Afrik in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Centrafrique Presse com Areva plie bagage de Bakouma centrafrique presse in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 a 00h00 Par M P et O P Le 30 mars 2016 2016 03 29 Des mines qui valent bien de l or leparisien fr in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Rencontre avec Vincent Crouzet onlalu Retrieved 2024 04 01 Areva pourquoi l affaire UraMin a t elle abouti a une enquete judiciaire Le Monde fr in French 2014 04 10 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Anne Lauvergeon le pouvoir a tout pri www seuil com Retrieved 2024 04 01 Dans le feuilleton Areva le tribunal a ouvert le chapitre espionnage Le Monde fr in French 2014 05 17 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Espionnage chez Areva le dirigeant du cabinet suisse reconnu coupable mais dispense de peine HuffPost 2014 06 20 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Rachat d UraMin perquisitions chez Areva et chez Anne Lauvergeon Le Monde fr in French 2014 06 03 Retrieved 2024 04 02 Franceinfo Actualites en temps reel et info en direct Franceinfo in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 VincentCrouzet 2016 02 12 UraMin a l heure de la verite Mediapart in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 EXCLUSIF La Centrafrique vise Balkany dans une plainte Le Nouvel Obs in French 2014 11 12 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Orange Martine 2014 12 04 Scandale Uramin omerta chez Areva Mediapart in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Uramin Areva nouvelle enquete judiciaire en vue pour les Balkany SudOuest fr in French 2014 12 04 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Patrick Balkany vise par une enquete pour corruption d argent public etranger ladepeche fr in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Areva et la tenebreuse affaire UraMin Le Monde fr in French 2014 12 10 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Retour sur le desastre Areva La Croix in French 2016 02 17 ISSN 0242 6056 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Fansten Emmanuel Uramin Olivier Fric mis en examen Liberation in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Areva qui est Olivier Fric le mari genant d Anne Lauvergeon Vanity Fair in French 2016 03 30 Retrieved 2024 03 31 Affaire UraMin Anne Lauvergeon mise en examen Le Monde fr in French 2016 05 13 Retrieved 2024 03 31 VincentCrouzet 2016 05 09 Hillary Clinton dans l affaire UraMin Mediapart in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Bon Gerard 2016 L ex directeur financier d Areva mis en examen Reuters La justice americaine sur la piste d Areva archive wikiwix com Retrieved 2024 04 01 Nouvelle convocation dans l affaire Uramin BFM BUSINESS in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Zonebourse 2018 10 29 Electricite de France Nouvelles mises en examen demandees dans le dossier Areva Le 29 octobre 2018 a 15 28 Zonebourse www zonebourse com in French Retrieved 2024 03 31 Rachat d Uramin l ex directeur des mines d Areva mis en examen pour corruption Le Monde fr in French 2018 04 07 Retrieved 2024 04 01 Orano Acteur majeur de l energie et du combustible nucleaire orano group in French Retrieved 2024 04 01 Bibliography editAdams Lestyn Morrall Andre 2008 UraMin a Team Enriched How to Build a Junior Uranium Mining Company Granvaud Raphael 2010 02 15 Areva en Afrique Une face cachee du nucleaire francais Quimperle Agone ISBN 978 274 890156 6 Crouzet Vincent 2014 Radioactif Belfond ISBN 978 271 445651 9 Perez Jean Louis 2014 Anne Lauvergeon le pouvoir a tout prix Fouesnant Le Seuil ISBN 978 202 118250 7 Crouzet Vincent 2017 Une affaire atomique Robert Laffont ISBN 978 222 119773 8 Eichinger Marc 2020 L homme qui en savait beaucoup trop Revelations d un agent au cœur des secrets d Etat Massot ISBN 978 238 035260 3 Documentaries editUramin Areva industrial fiasco or a vast swindle archive Jacques Monin s October 24 2014 France Inter interview The UraMin scandal archive Rendez vous avec X broadcasts of January 10 and 17 2015 on France Inter Areva amp Uramin The French nuclear time bomb archive Webdocumentary produced by ARTE Info and broadcast in May 2015 Uramin AREVA s hidden scandal archive Affaires sensibles broadcast on Tuesday February 9 2016 on France Inter Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title UraMin amp oldid 1217138888, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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