Presnensky Court of Moscow arrested Andrey Motorko, General Director of Avtomatika Concern, which is part of Rostec, and his subordinate, Head of Research Organization No. 3 of this enterprise, Alexander Nesterov, Project Manager for Satellite Systems. They will be in custody until August 27, an RTVI correspondent said.
The main investigation department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Moscow is investigating the criminal case. Both defendants were charged with fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code). The maximum penalty under this article is ten years in prison.
Nesterov’s lawyer, Kirill Skarabevsky, said that he considers the measure chosen for his client to be excessive. “My client is not going to interfere with the investigation, so another preventive measure, for example, house arrest, could have been dispensed with,” he told Vedomosti.
The Kommersant newspaper reported on June 28 that a fraud case had been opened against “unidentified persons” from the Avtomatika concern. As of June 29, there were no suspects, defendants or detainees in the case.
According to Kommersant, the Ministry of Industry and Trade suspected Avtomatika that the concern passed off equipment purchased in China as its development. At the same time, the department allocated more than 400 million rubles for it.
Under an agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the concern undertook to independently create broadband satellite communication antennas for various types of passenger transport from 2021 to 2024. Previously, such systems were used only in the military and space fields, and civilian developments were postponed due to complexity and high cost, the newspaper wrote.
The ministry agreed to compensate the enterprise for part of the costs from federal funds – for a total amount of more than 400 million rubles.
“Kommersant”, 06/30/2023, “The Ministry of Industry and Trade was deceived by Avtomatika”: An agreement between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Avtomatika concern on the provision of a subsidy from the federal budget for financial support of part of the costs of “creating a scientific and technical reserve for the development of technologies for the production of priority electronic components and radio-electronic equipment” was concluded on June 15, 2021. Two weeks earlier, Mr. Motorko had been appointed the new general director of Avtomatika, and this was in fact his first signature on a document as the head of the enterprise. However, in the concern, Mr. Motorko, who graduated from the Moscow Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1997, has been working in senior positions since 2017. Then he headed the Signal Research and Production Enterprise JSC, which is part of Avtomatika, and in 2018 he went on promotion, taking the position of first deputy general director of the concern. Around the same time, Alexander Nesterov also came to Avtomatika. Until 2018, he headed the Moscow Research Institute of Radio Communications (JSC MNIIRS), once one of the country’s leading enterprises in this field.
In the period from 2021 to 2024, within the framework of the project “Creation of a line of antenna systems for satellite communication stations”, Avtomatika was to receive a subsidy in the amount of 400 million 746 thousand rubles in several tranches. — Inset K.ru
In August 2022, Rostec presented a ready-made line of complexes. Mass production was already planned for 2023. By this time, the concern managed to transfer 300 million rubles. In May 2023, according to Kommersant, the Ministry of Industry and Trade stopped payments after discovering a possible substitution during an audit.
During the audit, it turned out that the products being developed use software purchased in China, the source codes for which Avtomatika does not have, and the components of the antenna systems are imported, which contradicts the terms of the agreement. The materials transferred to the TFR say that the Avtomatika concern issued antenna complexes purchased in China for its development.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed the fact of the check, Avtomatika disagreed with its conclusions and refused to return the money. Rostec did not comment on the claims of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The state corporation noted that development work to create a line of satellite communication antenna systems for mobile objects is proceeding in accordance with the schedule approved by the department, including using imported components, which is permissible under the relevant agreement.
“Kommersant”, 06/28/2023, “Chinese stuffing in Russian Avtomatika”: However, in the concern itself, according to Kommersant, they do not agree with the conclusions of the inspectors and return already received 300 million rubles. do not intend. Now, the TFR will have to figure out whether the concern really passed off the antenna complexes bought in China as its development as part of the investigation of the case in which the defendants face ten-year sentences.
In turn, Rostec insists on the groundlessness of the claims made against its subsidiary, specifying that in the line of satellite communication antenna systems developed by Avtomatika, in accordance with the agreement, it is permissible to use imported components. At the same time, Rostec notes that “currently, work is underway to manufacture mock-ups, prototypes of products with the replacement of imported components with domestic ones in accordance with the schedule approved by the Avtomatika concern for import substitution of components with subsequent assignment of the TORP status ( telecommunications equipment of Russian origin. – “Kommersant”) in 2025″. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, Rostec and the TFR did not comment on the very fact of initiating a criminal case in connection with the allegedly unreasonable receipt of a subsidy by Avtomatika. — Inset K.ru
RIA “Novosti”, 06/30/2023, “The general director of the Avtomatika concern Motorco was arrested in Moscow”: The Avtomatika Concern, which has been part of Rostec since 2014, has been developing and manufacturing systems and complexes for information security, technical means of communication, cryptographic protection of information, automated control systems, and creates countermeasures for military, civil and dual-purpose drones. Avtomatika includes 20 subsidiaries. Research centers and enterprises of the Avtomatiki holding carry out research and development work, carry out foreign economic activity. The Group is a competence center for cybersecurity issues
Motorko headed Avtomatika in May 2021. As reported on concern website, he held senior positions in various commercial companies for many years, and in 2017 he took the post of CEO of NPP Signal (part of Avtomatika), where he was engaged in the diversification of production, which made it possible to “significantly increase revenue from civilian products.” — Inset K.ru