Exposure to the various cultures within the Soviet Union during this period provided Momotenko with what he later called the "dynamic base of [his] musical ripening".

[8] In 1990, amidst the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Momotenko and other Russian musical students were invited for a period of six months to perform in the Netherlands.

Momotenko's early compositions, musical instruments, personal papers, and library of scores and recordings were abandoned in Moscow and consequently lost.

Increasing possibilities in digital sound and ease in working with these inversely resulted in decreasing interest from audiences; this exhaustion became palpable to Momotenko himself.

[10] At the start of his career in the Netherlands, Momotenko avoided composing for choirs, a reaction that was prompted by having been over-saturated with choral singing in his youth.

One of the products of his studies has been the choral work Na Strastnoy, which sets on verses by Boris Pasternak; it is based on the former style of chant.

Through his knowledge of chant, he said he better understood the resources that composers like Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Igor Stravinsky drew upon in their work.

Comparatively speaking, he said, Soviet composition students of his time had been "raised on dry rations" that were required to be in accord with the tenets of socialist realism.

[6] Momotenko has since stated that computers encourage passivity in their users and that he does not compose music with their aid in order to avoid distractions.

He also condemned the owners of the Concertgebouw for renting the hall to dance parties hosted by DJs utilizing amplified electronics; equipment that he said results in damage to the building.

[6] Some of the composers that Momotenko has listed as personal favorites include Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Ligeti, Sergei Prokofiev, and Einojuhani Rautavaara.