Translated material
Personnel ammunition
The creation of a holding company for the production of aerial bombs is being accelerated in Russia
The crisis is reshuffling management in the Russian defense complex. Alexander Rybas, in the recent past general director of the State Unitary Enterprise Instrument Design Bureau in Tula, became the new general director of the state research and production enterprise Basalt. He was appointed to the new position by order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in agreement with the state corporation Russian Technologies, since Basalt is its structure.Mr. Rybas is 49 years old. He graduated from the Tula Artillery Military School, the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg and the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. He served in the Far Eastern Military District and research institutions of the Ministry of Defense, worked in the system of military-technical cooperation, took part in the creation of divisions of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for military-technical policy. In 2000-2003 - Assistant to the Prime Minister of Russia on issues of industrial policy, development of transport and law enforcement agencies. In 2006, he worked as Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Industry.
His predecessor Vladimir Korenkov is a famous scientist and designer. The figure is ambiguous, independent, and not always manageable. A year and a half ago, Korenkov was even accused of misappropriation of funds. But now the situation is fundamentally different - the reshuffle is not related to these accusations.
The new head of the enterprise at the Ministry of Industry and Trade was immediately puzzled. He needs to improve the financial and economic performance of Basalt in a short time, while unconditionally fulfilling obligations under the state defense order and export contracts. But the main thing is to speed up the formation within the framework of the Russian Technologies state corporation of an integrated research and production structure in the field of promising samples of aircraft bomb weapons, close combat weapons, mines and engineering ammunition.
In other words, in accordance with the decree of the Russian President of July 10, 2008, to create a holding company for the production of aircraft bombs and close combat weapons. According to preliminary data, in addition to Basalt, it will include 14 enterprises. Among them are quite large Samara Electromechanical and Tomsk Radio Engineering Plants. But so far only Basalt is making a profit. It is one of the world leaders in the development of aviation bomb weapons, anti-tank and anti-sabotage naval grenade launcher systems, mortar rounds of all types and calibers and other types of ammunition. Basalt has the latest, but already famous, Hashim grenade launcher, the DP-64 anti-sabotage grenade launcher, the non-lethal ammunition of which, containing police gases, turns it into an effective means of fighting pirates.
Basalt's developments are in service with the armies of more than 80 countries; licenses for the production of 61 types of ammunition have been transferred to 11 countries, in which more than 20 corresponding factories have been built. That is, there is a foundation for the construction of a new holding. "Basalt" and specialized enterprises and organizations of the future integrated structure are transferred to the state corporation "Russian Technologies".
Apparently, the scale of the tasks determined the choice. Mr. Rybas is considered an effective manager in the industry, and now we are talking about managing not a separate enterprise, which the scientist and designer Vladimir Korenkov could handle quite well, but an entire integrated structure - it will be necessary to coordinate the efforts of disparate enterprises, establish their stable operation and development. In addition, it must be assumed that the appointment took into account the fact that the ammunition industry in Russia has always been in a rut, and is now completely in a “pre-infarction” state.
Mr. Korenkov, who kept Basalt afloat for eight years, was greeted with kind words. He was offered the position of chief designer in the new holding, but the former head of Basalt refused. In his opinion, at an enterprise like Basalt, the positions of director and chief designer should be combined. Then the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Trade promised to find Mr. Korenkov a worthy position. Alexander Rybas, in turn, said that he does not plan any personnel changes, although the financial condition of Basalt is far from ideal.
As a source familiar with the state of the ammunition industry told Vremya Novostei, Basalt has significant debts to its subcontractors, and some contracts in the field of military-technical cooperation have not been fulfilled. Mr. Korenkov is accused of lack of corporate ethics and disrespect for the directors. But these, one might say, are the birthmarks of the Russian defense industry.
Alexander Rybas, having come to the Tula KBP, in two years pulled out a hopeless situation with the Pantsir air defense system, created with investments from the United Arab Emirates. Starting this year, deliveries of Pantsir have begun, and there are applications from almost all countries of the Persian Gulf. However, Vladimir Korenkov came to Basalt when the enterprise was almost dying. Today it is a completely prosperous enterprise, selling to the world, in addition to weapons, an aerial bomb for effectively fighting fires.
In fact, we are present at the next stage of the global reshaping of the Russian defense industry - in this case, in such a painful area as ammunition. Five holding companies are being created on the basis of the leading ammunition developers. “The merger of enterprises producing one product line is rational,” said Vladimir Korenkov literally the day before his dismissal. - It will allow us to optimally utilize our existing cooperation. At the same time, the effectiveness of integration will largely depend on the competence of those people who will be entrusted with leading the process.”
Now some of the enterprises that will be part of the holding created on the basis of Basalt are in the stage of preparation for corporatization. Approximately half of the enterprises, including Basalt, undergo an asset accounting procedure. It is planned to complete the process of preparation for corporatization in the fall of 2009.