MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) - Around 500 million rubles ($15.9 million) issued by Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport for the completion of the Nerpa nuclear submarine go missing, the Kommersant business daily reported on Friday.
The money was reportedly transferred to the Far East Center of Shipbuilding and Ship Repair. The loss was discovered during the course of an internal audit at the center conducted by its sole shareholder, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).
Rosoboronexport gave a 1 billion ruble ($31.8 million) loan to the Center to complete the nuclear submarine for the Indian Navy. The Center transferred half of that amount to the contractor - the Amur shipyard. It is unclear what happened to the rest of the money, Kommersant reports.
USC has applied to the Russian Audit Chamber asking to look into the case. An Audit Chamber source who spoke with Kommersant confirmed that an investigation is underway.
On November 8, 2008, the Akula II class nuclear attack submarine Nerpa was running sea trials in the Sea of Japan in the western Pacific when its freon-based fire extinguisher system malfunctioned, killing 20 of the 208 people on board and injuring 21.
Captain Dmitry Lavrentyev was charged with abuse of power and Engineer Dmitry Grobov was accused of having negligently caused death. The jury found them not guilty on September 14, 2011. Both men were acquitted. The Supreme Court's Military Board overturned the judgment in May 2012 and ordered a retrial.
The Russian Pacific Fleet's Military Court acquitted both Lavrentyev and Grobov once again in April. The ruling was based on the jury's finding.
The Military Prosecutor's Office of Russia's Pacific Fleet appealed the acquittal of the two officers accused of having caused the deadly 2008 Nerpa submarine accident.
If the prosecutors' appeal is granted, a retrial may be staged without a jury, since a recent change in the federal legislation does not allow cases involving classified information to be considered by a jury.
In 2012, Russia leased the submarine out to the Indian Navy for 10 years for $930 million. India's financial support has enabled the shipyard to complete the project.
