Kazakhstan has seized the property of the TsENKI (Center for the Operation of Terrestrial Space Infrastructure) operating in Baikonur, a subsidiary of Russian Roscosmos, and intends to recover from it a debt in the amount of 13.5 billion tenge ($26.3 million). At the same time, the head of the company is forbidden to leave the country, according to the Fergana portal.
The report says that at the disposal of the editors of the portal there was a notice on the initiation of enforcement proceedings and the adoption of enforcement measures against JSC "Center for the operation of objects of ground-based space infrastructure" of the amount of debt in the amount of 13.68 billion tenge in favor of JSC "Joint Kazakh-Russian Venture" Baiterek". This decision was made by the court of the Astana International Financial Center. The writ of execution was issued at the end of November 2022.
The resulting conflict may well lead Russia to withdraw from Baikonur.
The ban on the use of resources and financial transactions slows down the priority area of work at Baikonur - the construction of a new launch pad for the Soyuz-5 rocket.
The main reason for the arrest was "incorrect behavior" and harsh statements by the new head of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov, kz24.news reports. We are talking, in particular, about criticism of the delay in the launch of the launch pad - a project that is being handled by the Deputy Minister of Communications of Kazakhstan, Bagdat Musin, who is responsible for the space direction.
In turn, Musin called Borisov's criticism a "diplomatic miscalculation."
CentralasianLIGHT.org
March 14, 2023