Vladimir Evdokimov devoted half his life to the nuclear industry. He has participated in a number of innovative developments for this industry. However, he became known to a wide circle of people only after he became a defendant in a corruption scandal and died in a pre-trial detention center under strange circumstances.
Biography: childhood and youth
Vladimir G. Evdokimov was born on March 26, 1961 in the city of Kostanay, in the north of Kazakhstan. It was born in the year of the launch of the world's first spacecraft-satellite “Vostok” with Yuri Gagarin on board the Earth’s orbit. Then his parents could not even think that his son would subsequently connect his life first with airplanes, and then with rockets.
In the sixties, the country's space exploration was a priority, so there were a lot of postcards, posters and toys on this subject. Space was present literally everywhere: on candy wrappers, on matchboxes, stamps, badges, notebooks, utensils. Active propaganda of the Soviet government did its job - Evdokimov was carried away by space, like many schoolchildren of that time.
In 1979, he moved to neighboring Chelyabinsk to enter a technical university. Vladimir successfully passed entrance exams to the Polytechnic Institute. In 1984, he graduated from it, becoming a certified mechanical engineer.
After the institute, Evdokimov became interested in research. He continued his studies in graduate school. After defending his dissertation, Vladimir received the degree of candidate of technical sciences. Subsequently, he became a doctor of sciences.
Career
After graduation, Evdokimov got a job at one of the enterprises of the Ministry of Secondary and Special Engineering. It was secret because it produced products for the nuclear industry. Subsequently, Vladimir moved from one similar enterprise to another. In the eighties, the nuclear industry was of exceptional importance to the country. The Soviet government considered it the basis of the defense capability and national security of the state.
Evdokimov devoted a little over two decades to the nuclear industry. During this time, he conducted a number of studies in this area. So, Evdokimov worked on the following problems:
- development of the nuclear icebreaker fleet;
- storage and disposal of nuclear waste;
- increasing the efficiency of operation of nuclear power units.
In 2005, he joined FSUE Aviatekhpriyemka. The company carried out quality control and acceptance of materials and semi-finished products for the aviation industry. For two years, Evdokimov worked there as first deputy general director, and subsequently took his place.
In 2014, his childhood dream of outer space came true: Vladimir left Aviatekhpriyemka Federal State Unitary Enterprise and transferred to the United Rocket and Space Corporation. The company was engaged in the development, production and repair of space rocket technology. In the position of General Director for quality and reliability, he worked only a year.
Soon Evdokimov took up the post of Executive Director for Quality and Reliability at Roscosmos State Corporation. In fact, he was her top manager. The state corporation became the last place of his work.
Scandal and arrest
In December 2016, Vladimir Evdokimov was accused of fraud. According to the investigation, during his work as deputy director of FSUE Aviatekhpriyemka, he took part in fraud with the supply of equipment to OJSC RSK MiG. Similar accomplices were brought against his accomplices: the former general director of MiG-Rost Alexey Ozerov, the deputy general director of Tupolev Egor Noskov, and the ex-director of Scientific and Technical Center CJSC Alexander Zolin. The four were engaged in replacing expensive components for helicopters with cheaper ones. As a result of such fraud that took place between 2007 and 2009, former officials inflicted damage on the amount of 200 million rubles to OJSC RSK MiG.
The defendants were placed under arrest. They were charged under part 4 of art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Fraud on an especially large scale committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy."
Vladimir Evdokimov was in the Moscow Vodnik pre-trial detention center. His relatives petitioned for house arrest. However, the court did not satisfy him, since Evdokimov has real estate in Malta. Two witnesses were also found in the case. The court considered that Evdokimov would be able to exert pressure on them under house arrest or hide from the investigation in Malta. The wife asked to release Vladimir on bail in the amount of 30 million rubles. However, the court also ignored this request.
Evdokimov spent 3.5 months in the detention center. He did not admit his guilt.
Strange death
Early in the morning of March 18, 2017, Vladimir Evdokimov was found dead in the toilet of the cell of the pre-trial detention center. The corpse was found by one of his cellmates. Several stab wounds were found on Evdokimov’s body: two in the area of the heart, and another in the neck. On the fact of death, a criminal case was opened about the murder, but there were no suspects for a long time.
Soon, investigators of the capital's central office considered the death of Evdokimov a suicide. They concluded that he had inflicted mortal wounds on himself after a telephone conversation with his ex-wife, during which he had an argument with her over money. Relatives of Evdokimov did not agree with this version. They continue to believe that Vladimir was killed, and the investigation is simply trying to shield the workers of the detention center.
There are indeed many oddities in this matter that have remained unanswered. So, on the eve of the death of Evdokimov, unexpectedly transferred to another cell. If the first was six-seat and with video surveillance, then in the second there was no shooting of what was happening inside, and 12 people were already sitting in it. There are enough inconsistencies in the case, but this did not stop the investigators from closing it.
