Gennady Raikunov, head of state owned aerospace manufacturing conglomerate Russian Space Systems, or RSS, may be replaced by Transportation Ministry official Alexei Semyonov in March, Izvestia reported on Friday.
The question of Raikunov's replacement was agreed this week in a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Rostech head Sergei Chemezov, and Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos Director Oleg Ostapenko, a source told the newspaper.
Semyonov declined to respond to Izvestia's request for comment, saying that no formal actions concerning his appointment have been made. Russian Space System and Roscosmos also declined to comment. Rogozin's assistant, Nikita Anisimov said that no information concerning a leadership shuffle at RSS had been given to him.
Although Raikunov has changed a large portion of the RSS management team and restructured several of the procurement enterprises, his efforts have largely been unsuccessful and quality control issues continue to plague the production line, another source told Izvestia.
Raikunov took helm of RSS in March of last year, replacing Yuri Urlichich, who left the company in the wake of allegations of misappropriation of funds allocated from the GLONASS global positioning system program.
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