10 Aug 2018 15:21

Khrunichev Center not bankrupt, Roscosmos expects govt to help restructure debts - Rogozin

MOSCOW. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Roscosmos has no plans to declare the Khrunichev Center bankrupt, the state space corporation's head Dmitry Rogozin told reporters.

"Its bankruptcy is out of the question. The president's fundamental stance is that production must be maintained and the Moscow plant's land must not be used to pay off its debts," Rogozin said.

Roscosmos is hopeful that the government will help restructure the enterprise's debts.

"Given the president's decision, we expect that the state may allocate funds to repay the overdue loans," he said.

The debt restructuring plan should be adopted in the current budget period, Rogozin said.

"We proceed from the premise that it needs to be adopted in the current budget process. We're paying interest, and quite a bit," he said.

A plan for repaying debt will determined later.

"It will become clear later whether this will be some form of state support, bonds, or something else," he said.

The Khrunichev Center owes money to several banks, including Sberbank, Rosselkhozbank, Vnesheconombank, and Fundservicebank, Rogozin said.

"In addition, the state corporation lent itself 26 billion [rubles]. It is necessary to return this money as well, because we gave almost all the money to support the staff of the Khrunichev Center. Obviously, we will replenish our reserves and will fund efforts to create an [engineering and design] center here from them," he said.