Persons involved in the theft during the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome are suspended from work. This was announced by the General Director of the state corporation "Roskosmos" Dmitry Rogozin. According to him, corruption cases related to the implementation of the project date back to 2014, when massive violations were discovered during construction.
“The criticism of the president of the Russian Federation is absolutely justified. Naturally, he is informed in detail. We also know in detail who was doing what, and we are glad that these people have long been removed from the construction site and are in places not so distant, ”Rogozin said.
He also pointed out that the construction of the second stage of the cosmodrome, located in the Amur region, is carried out "on completely different principles."
“Treasury escort is provided there, and money is allocated from the treasury letter of credit. Today we have no reason to worry that money is being spent inefficiently. There are no disturbing facts either, ”the head of Roscosmos explained.
At the same time, Rogozin, responding to a question from RIA Novosti, indicated that a number of facilities for launching Soyuz rockets from Vostochny Cosmodrome would be completed in the coming years, while the technical and launch complexes would be commissioned from the first quarter of 2020.
- Dmitry Rogozin and Vladimir Putin
- RIA News
- © Alexey Nikolsky
The issue of corruption in the construction of the Vostochny spaceport was raised on the eve of Vladimir Putin during a meeting with members of the government. The head of state announced the theft of hundreds of millions during the implementation of the project of "almost national character."
“A hundred times it was said: work transparently, big money is allocated, the project is practically of a national character. No, they steal hundreds of millions, hundreds of millions, ”the president explained.
In turn, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the claims of the head of state do not apply to the current leadership of Roskosmos. He also said that during the construction of the first stage of the cosmodrome in the Far East, 11 billion rubles were stolen, of which 3.5 billion were returned. A total of 32 people were convicted of embezzlement cases.
“Currently, out of 19 facilities, five have not been completed. Now there are five criminal cases in the UK’s work on those “tails” of the East, ”Peskov added.
The first stone in the foundation of the Vostochny spaceport was laid in August 2010. The construction of the first launch complex began in 2012, but its construction was accompanied by many violations and corruption scandals.
“Since 2014, 17 thousand various violations of the law have been identified, more than 1,000 people have been prosecuted, including officials. The prosecutor’s office carried out over 14 thousand prosecutor’s response measures, including filing lawsuits in court, ”said Alexander Kurennoy, official representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office in November 2018.
Baikonur Cosmodrome and cooperation with Ukraine
On Tuesday, November 12, Dmitry Rogozin, who participated in the international forum “Baikonur - the cradle of world cosmonautics” in Nursultan, emphasized that the Kazakhstan space center will be involved in the manned program of the International Space Station (ISS) at least until 2030.
He also expressed hope that an agreement on the modernization of the first launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Gagarinsky Launch) and the early approval of the document on the work on the Nazarbayev Launch project will be signed by the end of 2019.
“For this, Kazakhstan will have to approve the 2018 agreement on the separation of functions between Russia and Kazakhstan - who does what. That is, we are making a rocket, in 2022 it should be completed and ready for flight tests. Kazakhstan is investing in upgrading the launch infrastructure, ”Rogozin explained.
The general director of Roscosmos also expressed his readiness in the future to resume interaction with Ukraine in the space industry. According to him, on September 25, after the last launch of the Soyuz FG rocket, he saw tears in the eyes of "gloomy and serious experienced specialists who believed that this cooperation was being interrupted."
“But, if once the situation changes politically and we can again return to cooperation, I’ll say my personal point of view: I would be very happy about this,” he said.
In addition, Rogozin talked about negotiating with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia about the possible flights of their citizens into space.
Recall that in September the first cosmonaut of the UAE Khazzaa al-Mansouri entered the crew of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft. He spent eight days in orbit.