Commander swindled Northern Fleet out of two million rubles

The Court Martial of Russia’s northern city of Severodvinsk is completing a case that is record long and makes up a record number of files. Hearing of the case started on April 8, the jury have to study 52 episodes that make up 44 volumes.

There are four prisoners at the bar at once, two of them are former servicemen at the White Sea Naval base. A commander of the White Sea Naval base closely studied all possible ways to circumvent the law as concerning provision of the naval base. After transfer to the reserve, the commander was appointed a top official in the structures of the Naval base’s auxiliary fleet. Together with three of his pals, the man organized about twenty false companies to supply combustive-lubricating materials to the auxiliary fleet triple the price, organized repair of ships not at military dockyards, but at some civil enterprises where the prices were extremely high. But the group of swindlers received guaranteed returns. Damage caused to the Northern Fleet by the White Sea Naval base makes up about two million rubles.

In fact, as concerning the record amount of damage caused to the Navy, this very case is not the only one. Almost a year ago the same Court Martial convicted three submariners who had stolen expensive platinum catalysts designed for air regeneration at the Kazan submarine. The damage made up three million rubles. The theft put the sub out of operation for a very long period.

As the investigation has recently disclosed, 21 cassettes with the expensive and important catalysts were absent at the Kursk sub recently lifted from the bottom of the Barents Sea. Does it mean that Kursk was put to sea without the catalyst? There can be no mistakes, as experts closely studied every compartment of the sub after the lifting. Probably, some submariners also liked to steal precious catalyst cassettes on the Kursk sub as well.

Andrey Mikhailov Especially for PRAVDA.Ru Severodvinsk

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/05/28/41850.html