The Vostochny cosmodrome was left without a savior: Agalarov abandoned the project

Araz Agalarov's Crocus Group will not participate in the construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome - at least until the state recalculates the cost of the project. The businessman spoke about this in an interview with The Bell.

What's happened. Agalarov claims that he has already verbally refused to participate in the project. Real prices were not taken into account in the construction of the cosmodrome, he explained. It was assumed that Crocus would build the launch pad for the Angara super-heavy rocket. The cost of this part of the project was estimated at approximately 40 billion rubles. The current estimate is missing about 8 billion rubles, says Agalarov; for Crocus Group, participation in the project under such conditions could threaten bankruptcy.

Quote: “The cosmodrome is a clear loss. About 8 billion rubles are missing. Now, at my suggestion, it seems that this is still being recalculated,” Agalarov said. — [...] There was a big meeting in the government, chaired by [Yuri] Borisov (Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Industry Issues. - The Bell ). Everyone argued for a long time about why the first stage was not completed, why the second was being built slowly. When they asked me, I said that there were two pieces of news. The first is that the second stage of the cosmodrome can be built in two years. The second is that for the money that is provided, it is impossible. If you increase the price, you will get everything in two years. If not, sorry."

Read also “Give people a trillion”: Araz Agalarov about the Vostochny cosmodrome, arrests of entrepreneurs and government money

History of the issue. It became known in February that Agalarov would be entrusted with saving the Vostochny cosmodrome .

• The idea to invite Agalarov appeared after the previous general contractor, PSO Kazan, did not start work on time, because of this, the deadlines had to be shifted once again, a federal official explained to The Bell. It is simply impossible to find a large contractor beyond the Urals capable of carrying out construction, added a person familiar with the progress of the cosmodrome construction: “local contractors are small and suitable only for certain types of work.”

A month earlier, Dmitry Medvedev, with the words “enough chatting about where we will fly in 2030,” scolded the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, for being behind schedule in the construction of the cosmodrome.

• The situation with the construction of Vostochny was not going well. Construction began in 2011 and since then has been accompanied by constant corruption scandals and protests by builders against non-payment of wages.
• Since 2014, criminal cases related to theft at construction sites began to be initiated. Last year, the Prosecutor General's Office estimated the amount of theft during the construction of the cosmodrome at 10 billion rubles; 140 criminal cases were opened, in which 50 people were convicted.
• The cost of the first-stage cosmodrome facilities without infrastructure was estimated at approximately 100 billion rubles, with the first-stage infrastructure and the new city of Tsiolkovsky - about 160 billion rubles, the total - 300 billion rubles.
• The delivery dates for key Vostochny facilities have been repeatedly postponed: construction of the first stage was supposed to be completed last year, but only a quarter of the planned facilities have been built, Medvedev said in January.

Other candidates. Among the possible candidates for completing the construction of Vostochny were the companies of Arkady Rotenberg and Gennady Timchenko. But, according to Agalarov, they also refused to participate.

• The fact that Roscosmos is negotiating with Crocus Group, as well as Timchenko’s Stroytransgaz and Rotenberg’s Stroygazmontazh, was confirmed by Dmitry Rogozin in February. A representative of Rotenberg later officially stated that his company would not participate in the construction.

Find out more. Araz Agalarov's Crocus Group initially specialized in the construction and operation of retail and exhibition real estate (the company is one of the largest landlords in the country). But for several years now, Agalarov has also been taking on important government orders: from the Far Eastern University for the APEC summit to stadiums for the World Cup. In an interview with The Bell, Agalarov admits that it is not possible to earn a lot on government projects, and working with the state is not easy.