Spending soars
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced millions in state subsidies to the nation's top rocket fabricator which is struggling to pay its debts amid the financial crisis.
There will be no cuts in spending for the Russian space industry in 2009, and almost 82 billion rubles ($2.4 billion) will be allocated to three federal programs, Putin said.
"In the adjusted 2009 draft budget there are no reductions in allotments for the incident of the rocket and space industry," Putin said at a meeting at the Khrunichev research and fabrication space centre.
"We will continue to support rocket and space industries," Putin said during a visit to the company's giant factory in western Moscow. "We will provide financial benefit when necessary to help enterprises maintain their financial stability."
Putin recalled that in the past two years rocket and space industry enterprises have received and spent over 21 billion rubles ($609 million), stressing that half of those funds had been channeled into technical upgrading of manufacturing facilities.
He also urged an reform in preparation efficacy and said priority projects should be emphasized, including the Angara rocket and occurrence of new communications, seamanship and remote Earth sensing spacecraft.
Putin said the management will allocate 8 billion rubles ($232 million) to the Khrunichev research and development space centre to increase its charter capital.
The Khrunichev Space Centre was founded in 1993 on the basis of the country's major aircraft and spacecraft manufacturers, the Khrunichev Works and the Salyut Design Bureau.
Putin also said the rule will partly subsidise outgoings to cover interest payments on loans for 16 space and rocket industry enterprises.
Khrunichev, which manufactures heavy-lift Proton booster rockets, has been a cash cow for the Russian space industry since the 1991 Soviet collapse, putting commercial satellites - mostly foreign - into high, geostationary orbits. Russia receives tens of millions of dollars for each launch.
Khrunichev's director Vladimir Nesterov told Putin that the company needed state help because the costs of debt servicing has sharply increased due to the devaluation of the Russian currency.
There will be no cuts in spending for the Russian space industry in 2009, and almost 82 billion rubles ($2.4 billion) will be allocated to three federal programs, Putin said.
"In the adjusted 2009 draft budget there are no reductions in allotments for the incident of the rocket and space industry," Putin said at a meeting at the Khrunichev research and fabrication space centre.
"We will continue to support rocket and space industries," Putin said during a visit to the company's giant factory in western Moscow. "We will provide financial benefit when necessary to help enterprises maintain their financial stability."
Putin recalled that in the past two years rocket and space industry enterprises have received and spent over 21 billion rubles ($609 million), stressing that half of those funds had been channeled into technical upgrading of manufacturing facilities.
He also urged an reform in preparation efficacy and said priority projects should be emphasized, including the Angara rocket and occurrence of new communications, seamanship and remote Earth sensing spacecraft.
Putin said the management will allocate 8 billion rubles ($232 million) to the Khrunichev research and development space centre to increase its charter capital.
The Khrunichev Space Centre was founded in 1993 on the basis of the country's major aircraft and spacecraft manufacturers, the Khrunichev Works and the Salyut Design Bureau.
Putin also said the rule will partly subsidise outgoings to cover interest payments on loans for 16 space and rocket industry enterprises.
Khrunichev, which manufactures heavy-lift Proton booster rockets, has been a cash cow for the Russian space industry since the 1991 Soviet collapse, putting commercial satellites - mostly foreign - into high, geostationary orbits. Russia receives tens of millions of dollars for each launch.
Khrunichev's director Vladimir Nesterov told Putin that the company needed state help because the costs of debt servicing has sharply increased due to the devaluation of the Russian currency.
