2/27/2004: MISMANAGEMENT ALLEGATIONS TARGET KHRUNICHEV
According to an investigative report published in
Versiya on 27 February 2004, the M.V. Khrunichev State
Space Scientific Production Center faces severe financial difficulties that
place the organization on the verge of bankruptcy. The Khrunichev Center
reportedly owes its employees more than 1 billion rubles ($35 million as of 27
February 2004) in back wages and has had problems settling bills with its
suppliers. This precarious financial situation first and foremost can be
attributed to a drop in revenue from commercial launches of Proton-K space
launch vehicles (SLVs), the largest source of income for the center. Commercial
launches brought in approximately $500 million in 1997, but that amount fell to
$150 million in 2001. The article states, however, that there are other reasons
underlying the financial crisis at the enterprise. In particular, the author,
citing a report produced by the Ministry of Property Relations and the
Ministry of Internal Affairs,
claims that senior management at Khrunichev is engaged in expropriation of
government property (otchuzhdeniye federalnogo imushchestva) for personal
gain. The allegations focus on a series of transactions that occurred in March
2002, as the center prepared to become a joint stock enterprise and thereby
sought to clear its balance sheet. According to the government report, Khrunichev entered into fictitious investment agreements with federal property
broker JSC TNT (which only has one shareholder, a manager in the Khrunichev Property
Department), as a result of which several properties owned by the center passed
into the hands of private investors at a significantly undervalued price.
Another company, Linston LLC, allegedly provided fraudulent estimates that at
times amounted to five times less than the actual property value, which would
allow the properties to be resold for a considerable profit. The article further
alleges that the onset of these deals coincided with the hiring of Aleksey Dobrovolskiy, reportedly a colonel in the
Federal Security Service,
to head the Property Department at Khrunichev. Based on the findings of the
government inspection, a branch of the Moscow Prosecutor's Office has opened a
criminal investigation into illegal expropriation of government property. It
remains unclear, however, the extent to which these transactions, if confirmed,
impacted the financial viability of Khrunichev. [Anastasiya Korochkina, "Raketonositeli i
imushchestvovynositeli," Versiya online edition,
http://versiasovsek.ru/2004/7/economic/6947.html, No.7, 27 February 2004.]
{Entered 3/11/2004 EMC}
1/24/2002: PUTIN CREATES TACTICAL MISSILE WEAPONS CORPORATION On 24 January 2002, President Putin
signed a decree establishing the Tactical Missile Weapons Corporation.
At the present moment, the most important member of the corporation is the
Zvezda-Strela
State Scientific Production Center.[1] Other firms in the corporation include Avtomatika plant, Detal design bureau, the Iskra
Machine-Building Design Bureau, Krasnyy Gidropress plant and the Soyuz
Machine-Building Design Bureau.[1,2] Zvezda-Strela was founded
60 years ago and specializes in the development and production of
precision-guided tactical air-launched missiles.[1]
Sources: [1] "Polet 'Zvezdy-Strely': Ukazom prezidenta Rossiyskoy
Federatsii sozdana 'Korporatsiya' Takticheskoye raketnoye vooruzheniye,"
Nezavisimoye voyennoye obozreniye,
http://nvo.ng.ru/forces/2002-02-01/3_flight.html, 1
February 2002. [2] Agentstvo
voyennykh novostey, 20 June 2001; in
"Russia Ready to Establish Tactical Weapons Corporation," FBIS Document
CEP20010620000213. {Entered 2/15/02 IA}
12/19/2001: ANTI-SHIP MISSILE
CONSORTIUM FORMED ITAR-TASS reported on 19 December 2001 that an
agreement was signed at
NPO Mashinostroyeniya in Reutovo, Moscow Oblast, to
form a consortium of seven
design bureaus and manufacturers. The stated goal of the consortium is to
implement programs to develop and market anti-ship cruise
missile systems for export. The consortium is led by NPO Mashinostroyeniya and includes
PO Strela, TsNII Granit,
PO Avangard, Mashinostroitel Plant, OKB Vympel, and NPO Elektromekhanika.[1] The consortium will allow the
design bureaus to market their products independently under presidential
authorization for the next six years. The creation of the consortium is an apparent move by NPO Mashinostroyeniya to
maintain control of its export market independent of Rosoboroneksport. The action is seen by some as an attempt to prevent
the Russian government
from restructuring the missile
industry or from putting organizations under holding companies.[2]
Sources: [1] Dayma Timergaliyeva, ITAR-TASS, 19 December 2001; in
"Russian consortium to build new missile systems," FBIS
Document CEP20011219000106. [2] David Isby, "Russia forms
anti-ship missile consortium," Jane's Rockets and Missiles,
February 2002, p. 12. {Entered 3/5/02 RG}.
Last updated 18
March 2004
Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen (Cristina.ChuenATmiis.edu)
or Nikolai Sokov (nsokovATmiis.edu) at MIIS
CNS.
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