As it became known to Kommersant, Andrey Kalinovsky, the former general director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, has been put on the international wanted list. According to investigators, he could steal almost 400 million rubles. when implementing contracts for the supply of cutting tools for an enterprise that is part of the Roscosmos structure. A top manager fled in Cyprus.
The decision to arrest Andrei Kalinovsky in absentia at the request of the investigation was made by the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow. It says that the ex-head of the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center should be placed in a pre-trial detention center for two months if he is detained in Russia or extradited from abroad. No one appealed against the decision to arrest, and on January 17 it entered into force. Thus, a card with the data of Mr. Kalinovsky should soon appear in the Interpol search database.
According to Kommersant, Mr. Kalinovsky is a defendant in a criminal case that the investigative department of the ICR for the Northern District of Moscow initiated on March 4, 2021 under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud).
For a long time, the investigation was limited in relation to the suspected top manager to a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave, using which he flew to Cyprus, from where he did not return.
Now the investigation believes that, while holding the position of the general director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise, as well as the chairman of its procurement commission, Mr. Kalinovsky for several years, starting from 2014 and ending in 2017, misled the leadership of Roskosmos and gave orders to his uninitiated mercenary plans for subordinates to conclude contracts for the supply of cutting equipment with Sandvik LLC (engaged in wholesale trade in machinery, instruments, apparatus and equipment for general industrial and special purposes). As it was established during the preliminary investigation, eight such contracts for the replacement of allegedly obsolete equipment with new equipment were concluded between LLC and the Khrunichev Center, for a total of 393.6 million rubles. As follows from the conclusion of the examination, contracts at the suggestion of Andrey Kalinovsky were concluded without an appropriate feasibility study, taking into account the prices and resource of the purchased equipment, approbation of tools and taking into account the technical characteristics and testing of equipment. In addition, thanks to the examination, the investigation concluded that the contracts for the replacement of existing equipment and its equipment, judging by the technical characteristics, were unfavorable for the Khrunichev Center. There was no need to replace the instrument at the disposal of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise. Tests of the delivered samples showed that the nomenclature of the tool remained the same, as well as its performance. According to investigators, only minor components and equipment were actually replaced.
As a result, as follows from the materials of the criminal case, Mr. Kalinovsky, together with unidentified persons, by his actions caused damage to the research and production center for 393.6 million rubles.
He was charged with the entire amount of the contract, based on the relevant recommendations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
On December 16 last year, an investigator of the Investigative Committee of the ICR charged Mr. Kalinovsky in absentia with a particularly large-scale fraud, canceled his travel ban, declaring him first on the federal wanted list, and on January 12 of this year, on the international wanted list.
Andrei Kalinovsky was born in 1963 in Izhevsk, graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University with a degree in robotic systems, an electrical engineer. At first, he went from engineer to chief technologist – deputy chief engineer of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. Then, in 2002–2007, he was a top manager of Rostselmash OJSC, Morozovskselmash LLC and Konord Plant LLC. Subsequently, for five years he headed the Novosibirsk Aviation Production Association named after V.P. Chkalov, where he set up the production of Su-34 attack aircraft. From 2013 to 2014, Mr. Kalinovsky was the first vice president for production – director of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur branch, president of CJSC Sukhoi Civil Aircraft. In 2014, he headed the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “State Space Research and Production Center named after M.V. Khrunichev”.
Now, on the basis of the center in the west of Moscow, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the National Space Center (NCC) is being built. It is assumed that the NCC, whose building area will exceed 250 thousand square meters. m, will become the largest space center in the world.
Mr. Kalinovsky was also engaged in construction at one time. From the Khrunichev Center in August 2017, he left for Roskosmos, taking the post of Executive Director for Quality Assurance and Reliability of the state corporation, and then from 2018 to 2021 headed PIK’s subsidiary, JSC PIK Industry. PIK declined to comment. A source close to the company confirmed to Kommersant that Mr. Kalinovsky’s problems with the security forces are related to his work at the Khrunichev Center. Kommersant could not be contacted with representatives of Mr. Kalinovsky.
