Two news items from last week are mutually supportive: Arkady Rotenberg's assets merge with VEB.RF a year later and become de facto state property, and Elon Musk's first ever private manned launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft into space.
You may wish to ask, what could be the connection between the nationalization of Rotenberg's assets and the fact that in the United States, 40 years after the death of the Challenger, a full-fledged space industry has re-emerged? As experts of statistics say: negative feedback.
With your permission, I will explain immediately after I comment on the merger of the oligarch’s assets and the state corporation VEB. The process of creating the main contractor lasted more than a year and reached the finish line. On May 25, Mr. Shuvalov, Chairman of State Development Corporation VEB.RF announced the "completion of the transformation of the state corporation". Meet the new global player - "Natsproektstroy" Group of Companies. Rotenberg's assets - "Stroyproekt holding" and "Mostotrest" - are integrated into the company. In addition, VEB.RF closed issues with the buyout of "TEK Mosenergo", "Trest Gidromontazh" and "The 1520 Group of Companies".
GC "Natsproektstroy" - the official monopolist in the market of large-scale capital construction and construction of infrastructure facilities. There is no competitor equal to it in Russia and there will never be one. Now all major government contracts will be held without holding tenders. Moreover, VEB is a unique state holding company with its own bank. It simultaneously receives targeted financial revenues directly from the budget and investments from other sources, and uses them by working on national projects or implementing the interests of large Russian companies abroad.
Currently, the government has decided to transfer 10 projects - in the gas, chemical and metallurgical industries, port and road infrastructure, and the digital economy - to VEB. VEB will be provided with 800 billion rubles from the budget to bypass tenders. 12 more projects worth more than 1.1 trillion rubles are being considered. Mr. Rotenberg's share in this giant has somewhat eroded. Nonetheless, he's in business. A joint venture with VEB - "Natsproektstroy" will get contracts worth 140 billion rubles, without competition, for the construction of two major projects — the far western bypass of Krasnodar and the bypass of Aksay in the Rostov region, while Mostotrest Group will be the sole contractor for the construction of the 60 km highway "nearby". This is just the beginning. Mr. Shuvalov openly says that the construction of the Moscow-Kazan highway and the private "Meridian" highway, which should connect China and Europe, may be handed to "Natsproektstroy".
As you can see, the new organization has huge appetites – only in the first half of 2020, it is going to absorb about 2 trillion rubles, more than the amount allocated for the 2014 Olympics or the 2018 World Cup. This is how Mr. President and the government are helping business during the coronavirus period, by dragging the most delicious contracts into their "burrow" from under "his nose".
This is the first sign! We see the beginning of a new stage – transition from the stage of "family business", when friends and partners of Mr. Putin tried to get funds from the budget as unobtrusively as possible for the free media and the opposition, outwardly observing decency and acting out democratic rituals to an open merger of oligarchic capital and government entities. This is a clear indicator of the transition to a new regime: no matter what it looks like and is called – state capitalism, monarchy or dictatorship. Most importantly, Mr. Putin and his "brigade" are clearly tired of acting, and they’re creating conditions for "quiet work" - direct transfer of funds from the budget to their personal pockets.
The projects will be built, of course. In coming years. And then in the new version, an anecdote from the Brezhnev era will emerge:
"- You see that bridge over there?
- No, I can’t.
- Well, we’re taking a walk on the money allocated for its construction".
Now, what does the great news about the launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in the United States have to do with the disgusting news about the creation of the monstrous main contractor in Russia? Soon, stories about Musk's success and VEB's new projects will frequently appear in the same news releases. But forget about Roscosmos and our success in space – breakthrough technologies do not bring money to corrupt officials. Previously, space "milked" the country's budget, but now "the family" "milks" the space industry.
Elon Musk went from launching his first spacecraft to launching astronauts in 15 years. What did Russia do in space during the Putin-Medvedev period? Nothing. There were no breakthroughs, the rockets fly on engines developed in the 70s. The only "successes" are corruption scandals.
A question arises, why could a new high-tech industry emerge from scratch in 15 years in the United States , while in Russia, an industry that has existed since 1957, has not moved in the past 20 years? This is despite the fact that Musk's private company employs 6 thousand people, while in the Russian space industry – a quarter of a million.
It's simple – the space industry in Russia is run by people who are not interested in its development. They have other tasks. Somehow, of "personal" and "family" nature. Mr. Rogozin holds 13 positions and is clearly proud of it, because they are fully listed on the door of his office.
A graduate Of the University of Marxism-Leninism, a journalist, then a deputy becoming the head of another of Russia's leading industries. Eventually, the General Director of Roscosmos inevitably "became a star". He was let down by years of "sitting in a chair", confidence in the inviolability of his status – and this makes every reasonable person know of his personal greed and unscrupulousness. Each of the positions he holds objectively requires 100% performance in the workplace and is not compatible with the rest. Look at the "lowest" - the Dean of the Faculty of Space Research at Moscow State University. Besides the fact that it should be occupied by an expert with at least 10 years of experience in this field, the dean daily solves dozens of issues related to the organization of studies, quality control, development and material support of the faculty, he also solves personal problems of students. When will all this be done by a person who holds some other 12 positions, one of which is also the dean of one of the best faculties in Russia - "Rocket and Space Technology" of Bauman Moscow State Technical University?
Never. This is an absolutely typical situation for Russia, where a prestigious position is taken by a nouveau riche and he only performs his duties on paper. This kind of "dean", once a month, appears at the meeting of the department for an hour and a half, signs documents and waves goodbye to everyone. While his deputy, usually a woman, does his work "for nothing"- a real workhorse.
How could there be development of science and the educational process ? Except that there are still enthusiasts in the department. Then Yes, such a dean is good because he has no time, and he allows them to do anything "within reasonable bounds". But most often, the best people leave this faculty, so there is no question of any hype and movement. However, Mr. Dean is absolutely calm about accepting money for work that he doesn't do. What's the big deal? With his main job, a dean's salary and allowances don't even count as money.
So, in the same way, Mr. Rogozin "busts his tail" in all the other positions, and the salary and bonuses "walk" into his personal account. In Imperial Russia, an official in such a position was called a "locum tenens" - when he was required to perform rituals and stop "upstarts" like Elon Musk, with brains and a willingness to implement grand plans, from taking his place.
So Mr. Rogozin receives money not for the development of the space industry, but for the fact that the flow of funds "for space" is successfully absorbed and settles in the pockets of the "family". Of course, Mr. Rogozin is a little far from the "inner circle" and can not count on billions of dollars, like Rotenberg or Timchenko, but he has enough to live on.
I gave you these two unrelated spheres of the economy so that you can clearly compare the behavior of Putin's team. By and large, the "family" behaves the same way. The spheres where a lot of funds from the budget can not be transferred, are shut out by "locum tenens". In the direction where money "flows" - like the big red chips in "Monopoly" - they began to put main contractors. Well, those who do not have access to the "feeding trough" will have to moderate their appetites and move their weaker colleagues in public procurement.
In the Soviet Union there were "4 tops": hockey, ballet, space and the most beautiful girls in the world. In hockey, we are not the first in the world rankings for a long time; in space, we are about to lose our monopoly; for now, there is still ballet and the most beautiful girls. For how much longer?
In a country where empty promises have been made for decades, instead of creating new rockets, tens of thousands of corruption schemes are operating instead of developing the economy, and athletes spend more time in foreign clubs than they play for the country – it is not surprising that there are fewer patriots left, and more and more young people dream of living abroad and finally moving.
Now there are new trends on dating sites – more and more girls create a profile under an English names. More names like Sally, Monique, and Carolyn; they make their profiles in English, Spanish, and German, in the hope that a "foreign manufacturer" will look at their page instead of a domestic one. Practicality is quite a normal quality for the female. Through girls, like rats on a ship - sorry for the rude comparison, you can judge the state of a country and how soon it will "go to the bottom". So, the sharp growth of such profiles over the past two years leads to the conclusion that the "iceberg" is close and many will not wait to see if the"Titanic" will bypass it this time or not.
The pieces are arranged, the moves are painted. One question is left – will we risk destroying the plans of Putin and his associates, or will we allow them to remove us from the board?
https://www.vedomosti.ru/economics/articles/2019/06/09/803823-veb-infrastrukturnogo-rotenbergom
https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/articles/2020/05/28/831411-natsionalnii-proekt
https://www.rbc.ru/business/25/05/2020/5ecabd9a9a7947b885fe7938
https://www.vedomosti.ru/economics/articles/2020/05/27/831300-kompanii-veba
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