MOSCOW (AP) – Russian investigators opened a new corruption case Wednesday against subcontractors building a space center where workers have gone unpaid for months and have appealed directly to President Vladimir Putin for help.
The Vostochny Cosmodrome, under construction in a remote area in the Far East, is a priority project that will give Russia its own facility for manned space launches and ease its reliance on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Interior Ministry on Wednesday said its investigators had uncovered the embezzlement of 50.5 million rubles (nearly $1 million) by one of the subcontractors, in addition to the embezzlement of 48 million rubles by a separate subcontractor uncovered earlier. The ministry did not name the subcontractors.
Some of the construction workers have not been paid since December, and they have staged several hunger strikes.
To draw attention to their plight, they painted a message to Putin on the roofs of their barracks in huge white letters that said: “Dear Putin, V.V. Save the workers. We want to work.” Photographs taken from a helicopter were posted on the Internet.