The Investigative Committee opened two new cases of theft at the Vostochny Cosmodrome; Deputy head of Roscosmos for construction was fired

The Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Amur Region has opened two new criminal cases regarding fraud at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, reports , citing data from the preliminary investigation. Kommersant

According to the Investigative Committee, thanks to officials of the Center for Operation of Ground-Based Space Objects (TSENKI), one of the contractors, Respect-SM, received 600 million rubles for uncompleted work. The company had to complete the construction of a complex for the production and storage of rocket fuel components. This violation was qualified as abuse of authority (Article 286 of the Criminal Code).

In addition, Respect-SM, together with other Baval contractors, stole 60 million rubles using fictitious documents, the newspaper writes. The Investigative Committee opened a case of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code).

Roscosmos assured that they are providing assistance in the investigation of new violations at the cosmodrome, reports with reference to the press service of the state corporation. RIA Novosti

Roscosmos Deputy General Director for Construction Yuri Roslyak was fired .

Construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region began in 2010. In 2019, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that “every tenth ruble” allocated from the budget for the construction of the cosmodrome was stolen. The total amount of damage amounted to 11 billion rubles. Kommersant wrote that 32 people were convicted in cases of theft, and the Investigative Committee is investigating several more criminal cases.

In November 2018, the Prosecutor General's Office reported that since 2014, 140 criminal cases had been opened due to violations during the construction of the cosmodrome.