No more illusions

If the frame metal detector system worked, then how did a bag with a kilogram of explosives end up in the subway?

Four months ago, Novaya published an article “The Illusion of Security” - about the fact that the metal detector frames installed at all St. Petersburg metro stations are profanation. Officials then swore that “everything was under control” and the townspeople had nothing to worry about. Today their assurances sound especially relevant.

“The product that I produce serves for the safety of my family and friends and for the citizens of our magnificent Russia,” one of the employees of the company “Modern Science-Intensive Technologies” (SNT), which produces metal detectors for the metro, told a Novaya correspondent in November 2016 St. Petersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod.

After the April 3 tragedy, SNT refused to answer Novaya’s questions. “Yes, we produced the equipment, but we will not comment on terrorist attacks,” they answered briefly and hung up.

On April 3, SNT frame metal detectors allowed into the subway, according to various estimates, from 500 grams to a kilogram of explosives, part of which was discovered and neutralized at the Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station, where an object of strategic importance - Moskovsky Station - is located. None of the frames on the subway gave an alarm signal. Or no one responded to it.

...325 arched metal detectors appeared in 67 stations of the St. Petersburg metro in the fall-winter of 2015, after the Moscow terrorist attacks. For this order, SNT received 59.5 million rubles from the city Transport Committee. Each arch cost 183,250 rubles, although back in October 2013 the city bought a frame from SNT for 63 thousand rubles. The three-fold increase in price with the declared inflation of 5–7 percent could hardly be explained even by the fall of the ruble and the rise in price of imported parts.

Then the metro admitted that the equipment had not been working properly for almost a year. “From December 26, 2015 to December 1, 2016 <...> groups of stationary frame metal detectors <...> are in trial operation,” press secretary of the State Unitary Enterprise “Petersburg Metro” Yulia Shavel responded to the editor’s request. According to her, during the year, representatives of the St. Petersburg subway suggested that the manufacturer make changes to the work of the security framework.

Why such a long probationary period was needed is unclear. “We have an instruction manual. Fifteen seconds - and the metal detector is ready for work,” SNT explained then. Note that the tender documentation does not provide for a period of trial operation.

Even then, in a conversation with a Novaya correspondent, other market participants, including SNT’s competitors, doubted that this equipment fulfilled the assigned tasks.

“The metal detectors are configured so that the sound is turned off and there is no reaction, so, in fact, they do not work,” said an interlocutor from the Aurix company, which produces and supplies anti-terrorism equipment.

A specialist from the ST Group company also suggested that the equipment in the lobbies was in vain: “It looks like they were installed only to comply with the order on anti-terrorism measures.” According to him, you can set up the frames in a day, or even in a couple of hours.

SNT in both capitals were the only participant in city competitions for the supply of equipment. Even though all arch metal detectors work the same, requirements could have been added to the contract to exclude competitors. For example, law enforcement certification, which is not required by law. “It is almost impossible to obtain an FSB certificate,” they say at Aurix. Neither ST Group nor Aurix participated in the competition to equip the metro with arch detectors, since their equipment did not meet the necessary requirements.

What changes have happened since November? Three months ago, the State Unitary Enterprise “Petersburg Metro” concluded two more contracts with SNT for 22 million rubles. One of them was intended, by the way, to strengthen the effect of the already established framework.

For nine million rubles, the metro installed “enclosing structures” that today prevent frame metal detectors from being bypassed.

And literally on March 17, SNT signed a contract with the Moscow metro for 32 million rubles. The money will be used to repair security system equipment.

At the same time, the police at the metro until yesterday answered that the entrance frames were not working properly. Every day, several stations are closed for entry and exit due to unattended items. If the system above worked, how would a bag filled with explosives end up in the subway?

At the same time, none of the market participants began to assure that their framework could have prevented the tragedy. For metal detectors to work effectively, they need to be used the same way they are used at airports: to search everyone. It’s hard to imagine: it would completely block the metro.