"According to the Moscow Times, the Far Eastern Energy Company cut off electricity supplies to the areas of the spaceport still under construction after PSO Kazan racked up $627,000 in unpaid energy charges. The electricity company did so, it said, "to protect the interests of the region's energy system." (Rob Mitchell translated this Russian-language article for Ars.) The energy company also intends to file a lawsuit against PSO Kazan to declare the entity bankrupt."
"Through it all, there has been some progress. In 2016, a Soyuz-2 rocket launched from the first pad, "1S." And eight years later, a second pad, "1A," opened with a successful Angara rocket launch. Eventually, the Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, would like to operate seven launch pads at the Vostochny in the far eastern area of Russia, so development work continues."
The Vostochny spaceport was built to allow Russia to launch rockets from native soil and modernize launch operations, with construction starting in 2011. The project suffered hunger strikes, unpaid workers, theft of $126 million, an embezzlement arrest tied to $75,000, and periodic purges of officials. Despite problems, a Soyuz-2 rocket launched from pad 1S in 2016 and an Angara launch from pad 1A occurred eight years later. Roscosmos aims to operate seven launch pads. The primary contractor, PSO Kazan, accrued $627,000 in unpaid energy bills, prompting electricity cutoff and a planned bankruptcy suit, jeopardizing ongoing construction.
Read at Ars Technica
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