General Director of Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) "Energia" Igor Maltsev, in an address to employees on the occasion of the company's 79th anniversary, announced the critical situation of the company. His message was posted on the company's internal website.
In his message, Maltsev stated the company's "multi-million dollar debts" and emphasized that "the foundation created by Sergei Korolev and developed by general designers — Mishin, Glushko, Semenov — has been eaten away today."
He noted that "for all major projects, the promises proved to be unfulfilled, all deadlines were missed."
The head of RSC "Energia" described the situation as critical: "multi-million dollar debts, many processes are inefficient, interest on loans "eats up" the budget, a significant part of the team has lost a sense of shared responsibility and motivation."
Maltsev did not rule out the possibility of "closing the corporation, inability to function normally, pay salaries, let alone create products."
Founded in 1946 under the leadership of Sergei Korolev, "RSC "Energia" developed the first ballistic missiles, as well as a family of space launch vehicles — "Sputnik", "Vostok", "Voskhod", "Luna", "Molniya" and "Soyuz".
The company also created the first artificial Earth satellite, the first automatic interplanetary stations that reached the Moon, Venus, and Mars, the first spacecraft "Vostok" and "Voskhod".
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