20.03.2009
Source:
Zvezdochka shipyard is accused of misusing income from selling scrap metal from decommissioned nuclear powered submarines.
The lawsuit amounting to 169 million rubles (some EUR 4 million) is filed by Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation,
RIA Novosti reports.
Rosatom claims
Zvezdockha shipyard in Severodvinsk have sold scrap metal from dismantled submarines and by that received additional income that should have been deposited in a special account and used for financing the dismantling program. The income in questions comes from scrap metal sales in 2007 and 2008.
The date for the court hearings is not yet set.
Zvezdockha shipyard has been dismantling retired nuclear powered submarines since the mid-90ties.
Norway paid for the scrapping of a
Victor-II class nuclear powered submarine at
Zvezdockha in 2003-04, as reported by
BarentsObserver. According to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the total cost ceiling for the decommissioning of the submarine was EUR 5.2 million.
The dismantling of the Norwegian financed submarine was completed in April 2004. Which decommissioned submarine the scrap-metal
Rosatom claims
Zvezdockha sold without putting the money back into the decommissioning funds is not clear.
In the evaluation report about the decommissioning of the
Victor-II class submarine at
Zvezdochka, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes that the co-operation with the shipyard and the Russian authorities was satisfactory. The project was completed within the specified time frame and within the budget.
However, the ministry writes that there is still room for improvement as regards access to documentation and information. The documentation received for the purpose of review and assessment was relatively limited, and assessments and conclusions must be seen in this light, the ministry writes.
Most of the bigger submarines decommissioned at
Zvezdockha, like the
Yankee- Delta- and Typhoon-class are financed with money from the US Non-Lugar funds.
