The Moscow Lefortovo Court arrested Yevgeny Melnik, the former director general of the Russian Communications Authority (RKSS). He will be in jail until October 2.
“According to the decision of the Moscow District Court of August 9, a preventive measure was chosen against Melnik Yevgeny Nikolaevich, that is, in the form of detention for 1 month and 23 days until October 2,” the representative of the court said.
Suspected of misconduct in the execution of state defense order.
While the article on which Melnik was charged implied criminal liability for the company president’s use of his powers for his own benefit and advantage, the defendant’s actions did significant harm to the interests of society or the state. .
If Yevgeny Melnik is found guilty, he faces a fine or fine of 1 to 3 million rubles, and a prison sentence of 4 to 8 years, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years. .
Evgeny Melnik was CEO of the company from July 2010 to August 2013. In an interview in 2014, RIA Novosti calls Melnik the head of the company.
What does RCSS do?
The private state company Russian Communications Corporation was founded in 2007 by a government decision as a joint venture between Rosoboronexport and the Atlantis group of companies. ensuring the cyber security of the state and the production of reliable telecommunications equipment and communication systems in Russia.
Initially, the project, as Melnik said, Diversifying Rosoboronexport’s export program, adding solutions for civil systems, especially in the field of cybersecurity. Later, the idea arose to create a structure whose activities would focus directly on ensuring the cybersecurity of the country.
Melnik highlighted for 2014 RCSS worked with all major structures in Russiaand both with security forces and with civilians.
“These include the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, various ministries and departments, Rosseti and a number of other organizations,” Melnik said.
He said the company manufactures modern telecommunications and information technology that is used “primarily to build large systems for government customers.”
According to the VPK News portal, the company has produced complex automated enterprise security management systems, local network switches, mobile checkpoints, routers, software and hardware platforms.
Company challenges
Kommersant wrote that since the beginning of 2019, the company has been sued in claims totaling approximately 228.45 million rubles. One of the RCSS contractors later filed for bankruptcy.
In 2019, the court decided to recover 10 million rubles from the company in favor of MegaFon for landline services. Commenting on the situation at the company, Melnik told Kommersant that the difficulties are related to the “general situation” in the market.
“Import substitution is a priority for us. “Unfortunately, I don’t see that for all customers,” he said.
At the same time, in a previous interview with RIA Novosti, Melnik claimed that the company produces “modern equipment that is in no way inferior and in many respects ahead of our competitors.”
In 2016, the company received a profit of 5.1 million rubles in 2018, a profit of 180 million in 2018, and a loss of 189 million rubles in 2019. The total debt of the company in 2021 amounted to 2.1 billion rubles.
In August 2021, RKSS was declared bankrupt, a bankruptcy case was filed against the company and a bankruptcy trustee was appointed, it follows from the SPARK system data. It also contains information about ZAO RKSS Novye Sistemy with its CEO, Melnik. In January 2022, bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against this company.