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Russian Space Agency Misused $1.8 Billion, May Be Replaced

Posted by Soulskill on from the that's-a-lot-of-vodka dept.

An anonymous reader writes: After a pair of high profile launch failures in the past few months, Russian space agency Roscosmos is making headlines again: this time for corruption. A public spending watchdog reported that the organization had misused 92 billion rubles ($1.8 billion) in 2014 alone. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said their space efforts have been undermined by rampant corruption. "We have uncovered acts of fraud, abuse of authority (and) document forgery. With such a level of moral decay, one should not be surprised at the high accident rate." He also said Roscosmos is to be "abolished," and replaced by a state corporation of the same name by the end of the year. "In its new, corporate identity, Roscosmos will be responsible not only for setting mission goals but managing wages for space industry workers and modernizing production facilities."

9 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Corruption? In Russia? by Stormwatch · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am shocked and appalled.

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
    1. Re:Corruption? In Russia? by khallow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The media in the USA is the most dishonest I've seen.

      Then you haven't seen many medias. I'll just note that there was a very relevant society who once named their chief propaganda outlet, "Truth" which just happens to be "Pravda" in anglicized Russian.

  2. The problem by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Was probably that they were bribing the wrong people, not the corruption itself.

  3. This seems foolproof! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, let me get this straight: your public-sector space program is a fucked-up labyrinth of corruption, fraud, and mismanagement.

    You propose to replace it with a sole-source, crony capitalist, 'state corporation', to take advantage of the important synergies between the public sector's capabilities in corruption and mediocrity and the private sector's sophistication in financial and organizational malfeasance?

    Christ, guys, if you keep this up I'll start feeling good about US mil/aero procurement practices by comparison...

    You can argue about the relative virtues of public sector and private sector agents for various purposes; but there is no lower form of life than the crony capitalist entity when it comes to corruption.

    1. Re:This seems foolproof! by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The Russian government has more efficient and cost effective methods of corruption.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:This seems foolproof! by Rei · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is, after all, the same country whose 28 mile road to the Olympics cost more than if they'd covered the whole road with gold medals two layers thick. ;)

      Concerning this privatization, the only question that remains is, which friend of Putin is going to get to "buy" the space agency at a " fair market value" ;)

      --
      POTUS Witch Hunt tracker: 75 charges filed against 19 witches, 4 witches cooperating and 5 witches have pled guilty.
    3. Re: This seems foolproof! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Bollocks
      The road includes a railway line (strange that wasn't mentioned) and a shit load of bridges

      The original source is a political attack video so anything like Louie Vitton handbags is just shit
      Fuck, they are making John Pilger look unbiased!
      (John Pilger is Micheal Moore on steroids)

      The total lack of information on the railway and the terrain means any information on the price must also be suspect (in other words - Total Bullshit)

  4. Meta-corruption? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Knowing what things look like in Russia, one has to wonder whether this is has some elements of politics as well - is one of the Russian oligarchs trying to take control of the space industry and get more money into their pockets by replacing the existing organization with one tied to themselves? Knowing how rampant corruption runs in Russia, announcing it so dramatically at this point in time might have ulterior motives...

  5. Putin would like to get his hands on that money by stonedown · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When Putin charges someone with corruption, it's usually because they control government expenditures and are unwilling to give him his usual kickback. So, it looks like he's going to create a new space agency and install an ally to take advantage of the inherent business opportunities provided by access to a budget of over $5 billion.

    Read more about Putin's kleptocracy here:

    http://www.reuters.com/investi...