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First stage of Vostochny spaceport construction in Russian Far East 30% fulfilled

The Vostochny spaceport in the Amur Region in the Russian Far East is the first national civilian space center

© Egor Aleev/TASS

MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. The first stage of the Vostochny spaceport construction in the Amur Region in the Russian Far East is 30% fulfilled, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday.

"Under the first construction stage only six out of 19 facilities have been put into operation. About 20 billion rubles [around $320 million] have not been spent. They will be used for the second stage and for finishing the construction of the first stage facilities," the vice-premier commented.

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"All comprehensive measures have been taken to complete the first stage facilities. The construction of three of them will be carried out by the Center for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure. The construction of the basic facility, the launch pad for the Angara carrier rocket, has started under the second stage. The work is gradually gaining the required pace," Borisov added.

The Vostochny spaceport in the Amur Region in the Russian Far East is the first national civilian space center. Large-scale work to build the spaceport’s infrastructure and technical facilities started in 2012.

The Vostochny spaceport’s construction was accompanied by numerous problems. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, a total of 17,000 various violations were exposed in 2014-2018 and 140 criminal cases were opened while total damage was estimated at 10 billion rubles ($150 million). Dozens of individuals were convicted under various counts of Russia’s Criminal Code, including former head of Dalspetsstroi (the general contractor for the spaceport’s construction in 2009-2016) Yuri Khrizman.

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