Araz Agalarov’s space appetite
The construction of a launch complex for Angara on Vostochny was entrusted to Crocus JSC, a company with an ambiguous reputation .
At the very end of last year, the directorate of the Vostochny cosmodrome (part of the Roscosmos state corporation) signed a contract with Crocus JSC for the construction of a technical complex for the Angara space rocket system. Crocus is the head legal entity of the Crocus Group of the famous Russian oligarch Araz Agalarov.
The companies of the latter are contractors for a number of large, strategic projects for our country — the construction of the Central Ring Road, the buildings of the Far Eastern Federal University, and others. In many cases, construction projects were accompanied by corruption scandals and a lot of other difficulties.
What a new row can turn out to be — the correspondent of The Moscow Post in the Amur Region understood.
The amount of the contract, if not "space," then very high — over 15 billion rubles. The Agalarov structure received the contract without a competition — it was concluded with a single supplier. On the same day, another agreement was concluded with the group worth 907 million rubles for the gasification of cosmodrome facilities.
At the same time, Crocus already has a row on Vostochny. In 2020, the Agalarov structure, also, without a competition, received the right to erect the first stage of the airport complex at the cosmodrome. The cost amounted to 28 billion rubles. It turns out that the structures of Crocus have contracted with Roscosmos in the amount of over 44 billion rubles.
The state corporation led by Yuri Borisov explained the new agreement on the Angara complex with the first contract for the airport. Like, Crocus already has construction facilities on the site, as well as the competencies necessary for such work. Then why did Crocus get the first contract? At that time, the company’s strength on Vostochny was not yet.
The second stage of the construction of the airfield will be carried out from 2026 to 2029. It is not difficult to assume that Crocus will also receive it. But will everything be handed over on time and without problems? During the leadership of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin on Vostochny, a whole series of corruption scandals thundered, and the introduction of the first stage of the space harbor had to be postponed due to the identified shortcomings.
Vostochny cosmodrome. Photo: Vostochny Space Center/Roscosmos
This happened before that — in 2018, serious defects were revealed on the starting table of Vostochny. Experts found leaks of concreting joints through the formwork attachment holes, and also found violations at the central distribution point, where welding was used to connect the reinforcement instead of the coupling.