As it became known to Kommersant, the Prosecutor General’s Office refused to approve the indictment in a high-profile criminal case on fraud in the purchase of the Sea Launch platform. The materials of the investigation, which has been going on for nine years, have been returned to the TFR. The only defendant in the case is the long-term head of RSC Energia, Vitaly Lopota, who is charged with causing damage of 9 billion rubles, and does not admit guilt. And his defense believes that the sale of the platform compensated for possible damage.
According to Kommersant, First Deputy Prosecutor General Anatoly Razinkin, who oversees the preliminary investigation, did not approve the indictment in a criminal case related to the purchase of shares in the Sea Launch platform in 2010. Information about this “Kommersant” was confirmed by the lawyer Vakhtang Fedorov, representing the interests of the only person involved in the investigation – the former head of RSC Energia, Vitaly Lopota. At the same time, the defense lawyer did not specify what particular shortcomings of the investigation influenced the decision of the supervision.
As previously reported by Kommersant, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (GSU TFR) has been investigating fraud in the purchase of Sea Launch since April 2014. It was based on the operational data of the FSB, as well as the conclusions of the audit of the financial activities of RSC Energia, conducted by the interdepartmental working group of Roscosmos.
Now there are 200 volumes in the case file, in which the damage has grown from the initial 41 million rubles. up to 9 billion rubles
The actions of Vitaly Lopota, who has been under house arrest for several years, are qualified by the Main Investigative Committee of the ICR as an abuse of power that entailed grave consequences (part 2 of article 201 of the Criminal Code). RSC Energia, recognized as the injured party, filed a claim against the former leader for the entire amount of the alleged damage.
The claims of the investigation relate to the Sea Launch financing mechanism, including the purchase of its shares in 2010 and settlement with creditors. According to the GSU of the TFR, all these operations were carried out at the expense of funds not intended for such purposes, and without coordination of the corresponding costs.
Thus, it follows from the materials of the case that in addition to the rocket and space corporation itself, its subsidiary, the Experimental Machine Building Plant, in the period from 2010 to 2012, on the written instructions of Vitaly Lopota, allocated more than 5.5 billion rubles. concessional loans to Sea Launch structures Sea Launch AG, as well as Energia Overseas LLC and Energia Logistics LLC. Moreover, for financing, the enterprise itself was credited for 10-15% per annum, and the money was already transferred at a rate that was several times less than the bank rate.
Recall that an ambitious project to create a sea-based platform for space launches with the participation of RSC Energia, the American Boeing Commercial Space Company, the Norwegian Kvaerner (now Aker Solutions) and the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau was launched back in 1995. Initially, it was assumed that the platform would be located in the equator region and used for launching commercial satellites using disposable Russian-Ukrainian Zenit-3SL launch vehicles. In theory, this made it possible to reduce the cost of launches, but the calculations did not materialize. By 2009, the operator of the project, Sea Launch, was $2.6 billion in debt and filed for bankruptcy.
A year later, RSC Energia bought a 95% stake in the Sea Launch operator through its subsidiary, Energia Overseas Ltd. The remaining shares were distributed between Boeing (3%) and Aker (2%). The use of the platform resumed, but the project became profitable from six launches a year, while in reality they were able to make no more than two.
In 2014, when Yuzhmash, Dnepropetrovsk, under pressure from the Ukrainian authorities, stopped supplying missiles, launches from the platform ceased completely. Soon the project was mothballed, and the platform itself was delivered to Russia to its new owner, the S7 division. Not a single launch has been made from the platform over the past nine years, and the prospects for the project are unknown.
After the case materials were returned to the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR, the investigation was resumed, however, as lawyer Fedorov noted, “investigative actions are practically not being carried out.” So, according to the defender, despite the repeated requests of his principal, neither interrogations nor face-to-face confrontations were carried out with his participation.
“Apparently, the arrests of my client’s accounts, which the investigation informs us about, are the only thing they are currently busy with,” the defender suggested. At the same time, he insists on the absence of damage from the actions of Vitaly Lopota, noting that the amount received by RSC Energia in the sale of Sea Launch to the new owner covers the possible losses attributed to his client.
