The Federal Investigative Committee will examine two organizations accused of embezzling 107 million rubles ($3,3 dollars) of state finances in the development of the satellite-navigation system Glonass.
The allegations concern the construction of a facility at the Central Research Institute of Machine Building, located to the north of Moscow, according to Kommersant.
Investigators will question the management of both the institute and the contractor, a subsidiary of the Federal Special Construction Agency, whose construction record includes Christ the Savior Cathedral and the memorial complex at Park Pobedy.
Building work on the structure, which was to house an information gathering and monitoring facility, began in 2010 with a budget of 1.05 billion rubles.
By the end of 2010 building work was incomplete, and it emerged that the budget had been exceeded. No extra funds were released, and work on the site stopped in 2011. The building remains unfinished and unused.
In the course of construction "a significant volume of work not included in the original scope of the project was fabricated and added to the project documentation at a cost of 107 million rubles to the state budget," the Investigative Committee stated on its website.
New materials were passed to the committee by the FSB, which has been investigating the case since January, Kommersant reported.
The scandal surrounding Glonass has been developing since 2012. Earlier this month the current and former heads of Synertech LLC were arrested after the Interior Ministry reported that the company had stolen 85 million rubles while carrying out research for Glonass.
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