MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - The Khrunichev State Space Scientific-Production Center has debts amounting to 84 billion rubles, the enterprise's General Director Alexei Varochko said.
The debt is to be fully paid off in 203 years and there are plans to fully repay all debts to the state corporation Roscosmos this year, he said.
"Our debts currently amount to a total of 84 billion rubles. The whole team understands that and we also realize what precisely needs to be done this year to reduce this amount even further," Varochko said in an interview published in the Thursday edition of the newspaper Kommersant.
"We should become debt-free in 2021-2022 in accordance with the plan. We should not hope only for state support, we are working, we are trying to fulfil our contractual obligations on time. When I first came to work for the enterprise, we had 297 overdue stages, and now there are only 18. We have also practically paid all our debt to the Defense Ministry: we only have four overdue stages. Everything that was associated with the Proton supply, boosters - we have paid off these debts," Varochko said.
"The task is to fully pay all debts to Roscosmos, which were accumulated in 2011-2016, in 2019," he said.
Responding to a question as to when the next Angara-A5 launch should be expected, Varochko said it is planned for this year.
"The launch is planned for 2019. The assembly of the machine was completed in September 2018, specialists are now working on documents because the period for producing this Angara was quite long. All technical details are ready: the only thing left is to conduct pneumatic tests of the third stage of the rocket and its central unit. After that, we will deliver it to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and will carry out the launch," Varochko said.
The launch vehicle Proton-M is expected to be used until 2025, he said.
"We have contracts for another 12 vehicles that are to be used by 2025: namely, we have permission from the Kazakh authorities for flights from Baikonur until this moment. There are now three vehicles on the cosmodrome, and the fourth and fifth vehicles are being prepared to be sent there. We will send a new vehicle there with the launch of every delivered vehicle. We have already made all protons for the 2019 program," the Khrunichev Center general director said.
"Seven launches are planned. It's quite hard work for us: we would very much like everything to go in a standard manner," Varochko told Kommersant.