The embattled president of the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation was dismissed Monday after coming under increased pressure for his lackluster performance from Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
Andrei Dyachkov signed his dismissal papers from a hospital bed, less than a year after being appointed to the post, news reports said.
It also was not clear why Dyachkov, who will turn 56 on May 31, was in the hospital.
Rogozin, who supervises the defense industry and had nominated Dyachkov for the post last June, had criticized Dyachkov in recent weeks for failing to complete various civil and military projects on deadline.
During a visit to Astrakhan on April 13, Rogozin criticized him during a meeting shown on public television for delays in the construction of the Zvezda shipyard in the Far East. He said the progress reports did not match the reality of matters at the site.
The company was working on the projects along with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
On another occasion, Rogozin criticized Dyachkov for keeping the Bratsk nuclear submarine in the repair dock since 2007.
Dyachkov replaced Roman Trotsenko, who left last year amid a conflict with then-Defense Minister Anatoly Serdukov. Prior to this appointment, he headed the Sevmash shipyard (2011-12), which produces nuclear submarines for the Navy and is a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation; and the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering (2009-11).
A replacement was not immediately named to the United Shipbuilding Corporation, which unites the government's shipbuilding, repair and maintenance subsidiaries in western and northern Russia and the Far East. The company's board of directors is chaired by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.
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