Roscosmos Auctions Chelyabinsk Plant for 2.6 Billion Rubles

In the Chelyabinsk region, the property of JSC Miass Machine-Building Plant (part of the state corporation Roscosmos) has been put up for auction. The starting price is 2.6 billion rubles (about $26 million at current rates). The application period began on January 26. The auction is scheduled for March 23. This information was published on «Fedresource».

The production site of the enterprise is being auctioned as a single lot — building 46, 149 units of movable property, 36 units of immovable property, and 3,351 units of movable property related to the state defense order, as well as utility infrastructure facilities, primarily the thermal power plant (MMZ provides heat and hot water to Mashgorodok and the Stroitely settlement in Miass).

The Miass Machine-Building Plant (MMZ) traces its history to the autumn of 1959, when an experimental enterprise was organized on the basis of the former rocket plant No. 139 and workshop No. 3 for rocket technology production. In 2008, FSUE MMZ was reorganized into JSC Miass Machine-Building Plant. In addition to defense products, it produces LED lighting, petrochemical, and brewing equipment. According to Rusprofile, the founder of JSC MMZ is JSC GRC Makeeva (part of Roscosmos), and the manager is bankruptcy administrator Anatoly Selishchev. Financial indicators after 2018 are closed.

An important point is that the auction is being conducted in the form of a closed tender. That is, potential buyers are subject to special requirements. For example, they must have licenses for the production, repair, and disposal of weapons and military equipment; for space activities; for conducting work related to the use of information constituting state secrets with a secrecy level no lower than «top secret».

«The buyer is obliged to ensure the preservation of the intended purpose of the property complex, to fulfill contracts related to the execution of work under the state defense order, and to meet federal state needs in the field of maintaining the defense capability and security of the Russian Federation,» said the auction announcement published by the arbitration manager of JSC MMZ, Anatoly Selishchev.

Moreover, companies with foreign capital are prohibited from participating in the auction.

Recall that in July 2022, MMZ was declared bankrupt due to debts of almost two billion rubles (about $20 million at current rates; main creditors are Rosselkhozbank and NOVATEK-Chelyabinsk). In October of last year, the Arbitration Court of the Chelyabinsk region approved the «Regulations on the procedure, terms, and conditions for the sale of property» of the debtor. The bankruptcy proceedings against the debtor have been extended until June 18, 2026.

In February 2022, the former director of the Miass Machine-Building Plant, Andrey Yurchikov, was sent to a colony for embezzlement of more than 20 million rubles (about $200,000 at current rates) belonging to the defense enterprise.

In February 2024, Roscosmos identified more than 200 non-core assets for sale. Among them are 36 objects in the Chelyabinsk region.