MOSCOW, May 23 (Itar-Tass) - In the Samara Region the deputy chief of the Volga design bureau of the Space Rocket Corporation Energiya has been charged with a scheme for the supply of counterfeit parts for space rockets.
As the Investigative Committee has said, the Volga design bureau was instructed to draft specifications and ensure the manufacturing and supply of equipment for current and future space rocket complexes.
“In October 2009 the accused made a decision to use his powers to the detriment of the company’s legitimate interests. He created a limited liability firm OOO Enkom, run and staffed by his relatives, and then persuaded the design bureau’s director to conclude a contract with it for the manufacture of certain components and to transfer more than 14 million rubles to the company’s settlement account,” the Investigative Committee said. “However, Enkom had no license to manufacture this type of products, industrial facilities or skilled specialists. The quality of the products it delivered left much to be desired. The products bore the trademark of another manufacturer having the proper manufacturing license.”
As the prosecutor’s office has found, the man in question was Mikhail Firstov.
The firm produced the counterfeit products inside three garages it had rented in Samara. Then the products were taken to the Chelyabinsk Region’s Ust-Katav plant, where the units were tested and released by the plant as its own products. However, further tests in Moscow and Baikonur failed.
Firstov has been charged with power abuse and illegal enterprise.
The investigation is over. The case has been taken to court.