Russia's Space Program Rocked By Major Theft And Corruption

Vladimir Putin inspects the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2015. © Sputnik / Aleksey Nikolskyi

BBC: Russia corruption: Putin's pet space project Vostochny tainted by massive theft

Russia's new Vostochny space centre has lost at least 11bn roubles (£133m; $172m) through theft and top officials have been jailed.

So what went wrong with President Vladimir Putin's pet project?

Russia's Federal Investigative Committee (SK) says it is handling 12 more criminal cases linked to theft in this mega-project, which Mr Putin sees as a strategic priority for Russia, because of its huge commercial potential.

The longest jail term handed down so far was 11-and-a-half years for Yuri Khrizman, former head of state construction firm Dalspetsstroy.

Prof Mark Galeotti, a Russia expert at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), told the BBC the Vostochny scandal highlighted the scale of corruption in Mr Putin's huge state bureaucracy.

"How can you deal with it without declaring war on your own elite? He's not prepared to do that. This dependency on mega-projects almost invariably creates massive opportunities for embezzlement," Mr Galeotti said.

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WNU Editor: With the exception of Russia's massive oil projects, every other major Russian mega project is a recipe for massive theft and corruption. I still remember the Sochi Olympics and the insane costs involved in that project .... Russia Is Spending A Ludicrous Amount Of Money On The Winter Olympics (Business Insider). At least Russian media is reporting this theft. In the past they would have ignore it.

More News On Russia's Space Program Rocked By Major Theft And Corruption

‘They keep stealing in hundreds of millions’: Putin outraged by ongoing fraud at Vostochny Cosmodrome construction -- RT
Kremlin: $169 mln stolen out of $1.4 bln allocated for Vostochny spaceport construction -- TASS
Putin bemoans continued corruption at space base -- ABC News/AP
Putin: hundreds of millions being stolen in construction of Vostochny cosmodrome -- Crime Russia
Corrupt officials removed from Vostochny spaceport construction -- TASS

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