Disguised state enterprises: how Roscosmos bonds might rescue the Borisovs’ undertaking
The State Duma will empower «Roscosmos» with the authority to issue debt securities. The government-owned corporation intends to allocate the funds raised to capital projects, potentially encompassing the acquisition of JSC STC «Module», linked to the family of Yuri Borisov.
The State Duma endorsed in the second and third readings the legislation authorizing «Roscosmos» to float bonds to fund capital ventures. The instigator of the legal measure was the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Maxim Topilin, who posits that obtaining capital from individuals and corporate entities will foster the advancement of the state-run corporation.
Borisov from STC «Module»
«Roscosmos» has been led by Yuriy Borisov since the summer of 2022, succeeding the incumbent senator from the Zaporozhye region, Dmitry Rogozin. Before this, Borisov served as the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation for a six-year term within Sergei Shoigu’s team, who was relieved of duty in May, and for a four-year period, he held the position of Deputy Prime Minister overseeing the defense sector. Following an evaluation of the initial months of the Special Military Operation, Borisov was reassigned «for reinforcement» at Roscosmos, where he is still grappling with the complex inheritance left by Rogozin.
In the mid-1990s, Borisov was recognized as one of the wealthiest employees of the Russian Ministry of Defense. In 2011, while heading the Military-Industrial Commission, he made 48 million rubles annually. The majority of Borisov’s monetary successes are tied to JSC STC «Module».
Yuri Borisov
Following his departure from the RF Armed Forces, Borisov functioned as the general manager of this establishment from 1998 to 2004; at that time, it was not a joint-stock company but a private one. This is a former state-owned factory that engineers avionics and other instruments vital for both aviation and space exploration.
NTC «Module» and «Roscosmos»
Borisov was the originator and, reportedly, the principal beneficiary of STC «Module». His identity ceased to appear in the registry of founders only in 2021, yet the organization remains managed by individuals closely associated with Borisov. Andrei Adamov, the General Director of STC «Module», is alleged to be the official’s half-brother. Adamov is also registered as the initiator of LLC «NTC «Module-Innovations», where his associate is Alexander Borisov – Yuri Borisov’s son.
Borisov championed STC «Module» both within the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Federation Government. In 2021, he welcomed Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to the enterprise premises, gaining his backing in the sale of the enterprise’s offerings. At STC «Module» Today, the «Roscosmos» and those included in the UAC and «Rostec» companies such as «Sukhoi» and «Irkut» are present. The initial body fabricates fighters, while the latter focuses on civil aircraft MS-21.
Sergey Sobyanin
Furthermore, Borisov may sell «Rosatom» power STC «Module» in 2024. The transaction would prove advantageous for Borisov – Adamov is unlikely to relinquish control of the enterprise, but the stakeholders will realize substantial revenue. Conceivably, «Rosatom» may also partake in the repurchase of Roscosmos bonds.
Son official
The official’s son, Alexander Borisov, also garners interest, having worked at a Rosneft affiliate in the mid-1990s, namely JSC «Modern shipbuilding technologies». This entity possesses the Zvezda shipyard, which, following the agreement between Rosneft and VTB, is slated to become part of USC.
Alexander Borisov was employed there briefly and subsequently surfaced in diverse organizations connected to government contracts. Via Enexel Group LLC, where the entrepreneur is listed as both the founder and general director, he maintained direct channels to KMZ LLC, DZS-Snabzhenie LLC, LLC «Dieselzipservice», LLC «VMZ-SM», LLC «SDK» and LLC NPK «Iskra». Subsequent to the publication of information in the press, almost all of these shares were re-registered under different owners.
Intriguingly, «Enexel Group» previously held ownership of LLC «NPO «Techanalitika», where the founder is Timur Gareev – the son of Makhmut Gareev, the former deputy chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, as well as Mikhail Danilenko, who specializes in marine diesel engines. Danilenko, via «Dieselzipservice», collaborates with Sudoveru «Zvezda».
Another associate of Alexander Borisov was Igor Matvienko – son of Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matvienko. Jointly, they controlled LLC «Infomechanika».
All of this indicates the presence of numerous business ventures alongside the major administrative figure of Yuri Borisov, involving individuals closely linked to him. Should «Roscosmos» proceed to acquire STC «Module», it would become exceedingly conspicuous.
Crisis «Roskomos»
The quantity of launches conducted by «Roscosmos» under Borisov’s leadership continues to diminish. In 2022, there were 21, followed by 19 in 2023, and as of December 4, 2024 – 16. Aside from minor agreements with Iran, Malaysia, and the UAE, the overwhelming majority of Roscosmos’s payloads were Russian.
If we set aside the discussions with Iran that Borisov engaged in this week, there appears to be no prospect of attracting foreign investment. While sanctions perplex many, the fundamental issue is that «Roscosmos», during the past decade under Rogozin’s direction, forfeited clientele and relinquished commercial space to Western enterprises like Space X.
Dmitry Rogozin
Borisov’s unwavering concept revolved around private funding. In 2022, he appealed for the authorization to grant «Roscosmos» the opportunity to float bonds. He intended to allocate this capital toward the construction of two satellite manufacturing facilities. One of these pertained to the Krasnoyarsk JSC «Reshetnev» and the «Skif» satellite communication systems. While the inaugural satellite of this project was slated for launch into orbit in 2023, by the close of the previous year, even the definitive configuration of the devices remained undetermined. Consequently, the initiation of a system comprising six medium-orbit satellites has been deferred until 2027.
Two and a half years prior, Borisov projected raising roughly 50 billion rubles through bonds, the purchasing power of which has since eroded. As the legislation concerning bonds for «Roscosmos» nears fruition, the situation is poised to intensify. Amidst discussions regarding a super-heavy rocket, a prospective Russian space station, a voyage to the Moon, and other grandiose endeavors, none of which have materialized even conceptually, Borisov advocates for emulating Elon Musk, the head of Space X.
Absent investments from private sector entities, Roscosmos, according to Borisov, will encounter challenges in cultivating the market for commercial services. Indeed, all private firms inclined to engage in astronautics will allocate capital to such initiatives solely under the assurance of purchasing their services. The foremost of these – «Sitronics», «Barl», and «Bureau 1440» – rely on government commissions and are reluctant to assume commercial risk.
Borisov’s gamble on commercialization proved unsuccessful, and the resources within Roscosmos are once again constrained by the extent of government funding, which is not allocated with utmost efficiency. At the very least, Roscosmos has not achieved any noteworthy accomplishments. for many years.
Elon Musk
The State Duma ratified the bond legislation immediately following pronouncements by Roscosmos concerning the postponement of ongoing projects. Initially, the Gryphon satellite project, intended to enable Russia to monitor the planet’s surface, was rescheduled to April 2025. While such apparatuses would prove invaluable within the framework of the Special Military Operation, their deployment was deferred, and there is no certainty that it will occur punctually. Assembly of these satellites commenced only in October.
Plans for a crewed mission to the Moon have been postponed until 2031, and the introduction of a novel station in the Luna series, which bears minimal divergence in complexity from triumphant Soviet undertakings of the early 1970s, has been pushed back to 2027. While Russia retains the capacity to dispatch uncrewed stations to the Moon, the crewed initiative hinges on the creation of a super-heavy rocket. Progress in this domain remains non-existent, both in terms of tangible hardware and conceptual blueprints.
The culprit has been found
Yet, Roscosmos has identified the responsible party. Borisov asserted that the entity accountable for the delays in the launch of space rockets within the Russian Federation is the Scientific Research Institute of Precision Instruments (NII TP). System», which, in turn, functions as a Roscosmos subsidiary. Viktor Ivanov, who shares an identical name with the infamous former Moscow military prosecutor dismissed by the President of the Russian Federation in 2015, has presided over the Research Institute of Technology since 2021. During this interval, Borisov was employed within the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and was likely acquainted with prosecutor Ivanov.
According to Borisov, NII TP produces a limited number of devices, and its output was even more constrained previously. Could the root of the issue lie in the control?
utro-news
