Document Summary

Military Unit Cooperation

15 military units cooperated with the institute. These units were:
* Nos. 11 700
* 11 777
* 34 236
* 56 007
* 62 758
* 63 184
* 63 196
* 67 708
* 67 784
* 68 586
* 8
* 86 669 233
* 74 0096
* 86 741
* 92 919

Explosives and Oversight Concerns

The text notes that under the system of relations reflected in a memo addressed to the head of the NII (Research Institute), hexogen, TNT, and other explosives could potentially have fallen into the hands of both criminal communities and terrorists.

Despite these findings, the FSB and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation did not express concern, even following appeals and demands from the Minister of Education Filippov, under whose jurisdiction "Roskonversvzryvtsentr" formally fell.

Criminal Case Initiation

Criminal case No. 9271 was initiated by the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The case was opened by senior investigator for particularly important cases of the IC under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Vazhdalov, concerning:
* "the facts of illegal sale of explosives by the heads of the NII 'Roskonversvzryvtsentr' based on the signs of a crime provided for by Part 2 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation."

However, this case had no prospects.

Appeals of the Minister of Education Vladimir Filippov and the Response

Initial Statement (July 5, 2000)

On July 5, 2000, Minister of Education Vladimir Filippov sent a statement to the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs (GUVD) of Moscow. The statement detailed the findings of a departmental audit conducted at the state research institute NII 'Roskonversvzryvtsentr' based on an order from the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation dated May 25, 2000, No. 70.

Key Findings of the Audit:
* Serious violations of financial and economic discipline were identified.
* The commission concluded that the suspended director of the institute, Yu. G. Shchukin, needed to be brought to administrative responsibility.
* The commission noted several deficiencies in documentation provided by Yu. G. Shchukin, including:
* Lack of contracts for service provision and product supply.
* Absence of specific volumes, quantities, and costs in individual contracts.
* Numerous instances of non-receipt of funds for supplied products into the institute's settlement account.

Request: The minister requested an audit of Director Yu. G. Shchukin's activities to identify signs of economic offenses.

Note: The minister's statement, which included a 76-page documentary appendix, was not properly received.

Subsequent Appeals and Investigations

• August 17, 2000: Minister Filippov appealed to the Minister of Internal Affairs Rushailo (letter No. 01-52-146). He noted that GUVD of Moscow had taken no active steps and that the objective audit of the information provided by the Ministry of Education of Russia was being delayed. Due to the special nature of the institute's activities, the minister requested the audit be assigned to the relevant units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Following this letter, an investigation was started in the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, but it was subsequently prevented from being completed.
• November 2, 2000: Minister Filippov wrote to Minister of Internal Affairs Rushailo, stating that "no productive work is being carried out." He pointed out that the internal affairs bodies had initiated two criminal cases on August 12 of that year (No. 121873, on the grounds of fraud) and August 24 of that year (No. 9271, on the grounds of illegal circulation of explosive materials). Crucially, these cases related only to two episodes of the institute's activities that occurred after Yu. G. Shchukin was removed from his position.

At the same time, the operational investigative group headed by senior investigator S. K. Vazhdalov was created for the investigation.