Fraudulent Contracts for Peter the Great Cruiser Overhaul

World Peace Foundation - November 26, 2020 (updated December 5, 2020)
Image Caption: Unidentified personnel conduct radiological, chemical, and biological protection exercises aboard the cruiser Pyotr Veliky in May 2010. Image Source: Wikimedia/Creative Commons, RIA Novosti archive.

Introduction

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As Russia seeks to rearm and modernize its military, one of the biggest obstacles it faces is the endemic corruption throughout the military-industrial system, including the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces, and the arms industry.

With relatively weak institutions and kleptocratic plunder enshrined as the governing system from the top down, corruption in the defense sector goes well beyond the payment of bribes to win procurement contracts. Outright embezzlement of public funds is common, and relies on the use of fake contracts. One of the most remarkable cases, though far from the largest, is that of the repair contract for the Pyotr Veliky (“Peter the Great”) guided missile cruiser.

Case details

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Seller country Russia
Seller company Special Production and Technical Base Zvezdochka
Buyer country Russia
Goods category Warships, Missile Systems
Equipment sold Repairs to the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky.
Deal value RUB (Russian rubles) 356.1 million (USD 11.7 million)
Sum involved in corruption At least RUB 356.1 million (USD 11.7 million)
Start year 2010
End year 2016
Outcome status Trial Closed - Convictions

Dramatis Personae

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  • Fedor Barashko – director of Zvezdochka. Convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion, fined and sentenced to eight and a half years imprisonment.

  • Sergei Fridinskiy – Chief Military Prosecutor.

  • Konstantin Khriukin – Barashko’s successor as director of Zvezdochka. Convicted of embezzlement, fined and sentenced to nine years imprisonment.

Summary of Corruption Allegations

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Investigations by military prosecutors revealed the deal to be not just corrupt, but fake from beginning to end.

First of all, the company itself, Zvezdochka, turned out to be a shell company that was impersonating the real Zvezdochka ship repair yard, which specializes in the modernization and repair of nuclear and diesel submarines. The fake Zvezdochka that won the contract and received the funds did not even have proper permits from the Russian state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, to repair the nuclear reactor on the cruiser. The doppelganger shell company had, nonetheless, been winning contracts to “repair” the reactors of nuclear submarines for years, despite not having any suitable facilities for carrying out such work.

Unsurprisingly, and perhaps fortunately, the supposed repair work was never carried out—and, it turned out, was never necessary in the first place.

A large proportion of fake-Zvezdochka’s employees were relatives of the company’s Director, and received large salaries and bonuses paid for by Russian state defense procurement orders, presumably for no actual work.

How a company that did not actually do any work was able to continue winning contracts for so long is not entirely clear, but Chief Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinskiy hinted that it is likely that the Ministry of Defense officials that covered this scheme, by signing the contracts and approving fraudulent reports about fulfilled work, also benefited.

Finally, to add insult to injury, the fake company overcharged for the work that was supposed to be carried out, which according to military prosecutors should have been valued at RUB 265.4 million (USD 8.6 million). Indeed, the inflated fee was the initial focus of the investigation.

Timeline

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  • 2010

    The Russian Ministry of Defense awarded a contract for the repair of the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky (“Peter the Great”) to the contractor CJSC Special Production and Technical Base Zvezdochka. The newspaper Independent Military Review (Nezavisimoie Voiennoe Obozreniie) reported that the director of the company stated the cost of repair to be RUB 356.1 million (or USD 11.7 million).

Investigation Outcomes

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  • Jul 2011

    The investigations by military prosecutors into the Pyotr Veliky scam became public about a year after the award of the contract. Criminal proceedings took rather longer however.

  • Mar 2016

    Fake-Zvezdochka’s director, Fedor Barashko, was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion, and sentenced to eight and a half years imprisonment, and a fine of RUB 900,000 (USD 29,636). Two military officers were also charged with negligence and abuse of authority as part of the initial 2011 investigation.

  • Nov 2016

    In a sign of the all-pervasive corruption within the Russian defense system and the weaknesses of anti-corruption efforts, in spite of the large number of investigations and prosecutions carried out, the doppelganger company continued to win military contracts even after the scandal broke. Barashko’s successor as director of Zvezdochka, Konstantin Khriukin, was arrested for embezzlement and put in custody. He was later sentenced to nine years imprisonment and a fine of RUB 900,000 (USD 15,400) for his part in fraudulent activities.

References

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