Russian businessman accused of espionage in the United States: what he did and what it threatens

US authorities accuse the director of business development of the United Engine Corporation, Alexander Korshunov (part of Rostec), of industrial espionage: according to the FBI, he recruited three employees of General Electric and with their help tried to steal an aircraft engine control system.

Photo: Facebook / Alexander Korshunov

On the eve it became known that Korshunov was detained in Italy at the request of the United States. The issue of his extradition is being decided, writes Air force.

The detention took place on August 30 at Naples airport. In the United States, Korshunov and Italian Maurizio Paolo Bianchi were charged with conspiracy and attempts to steal information constituting a trade secret. This led to a scandal. On Thursday at the Eastern Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin called this “bad practice” and explained it as a result of competition.

It follows from a statement by the US Department of Justice that Korshunov and Bianchi are accused of trying to steal engine control system technology.

The United Engine Corporation (UEC), where Korshunov works, was developing PD-14 engines for the new Russian MS-21 aircraft. It is this type of engine that appears in the FBI investigation, which the US Department of Justice refers to. According to American authorities, Korshunov tried to improve the PD-14 using General Electric (GE) technologies.

“Here we know that UEC has made a new Russian engine. I did it for a long time. This is our first high-tech product in 28 years,” Putin said the day before.

Rostec, which includes UEC, denies the accusations against its top manager. And Putin called the schemes described by the FBI world practice: “We entered into a contract with an Italian company for consultations. This is an absolutely natural world practice.”

It seems that we are talking about the Italian company Aeronova, founded by Bianchi, whom the United States accuses along with Korshunov.

A court session was held in Naples on Friday, but a decision to extradite Korshunov to the United States has not yet been made.

The Russian BBC service examined an official FBI complaint published by the US Department of Justice and other materials.

On the subject: Accused of espionage: Russian businessman arrested at US request

Who is Korshunov and where did he work?

Alexander Korshunov - Business Development Director, United Engine Corporation, he has held this position for about a year. He worked in UEC for almost 10 years (in 2017, he left UEC for VEB and a year later returned to the corporation).

UEC is a structure that unites several dozen enterprises that develop and manufacture engines for civil and military equipment, gas turbine units and other products. Until 2018, the company was part of Oboronprom; now it is directly managed by Rostec. In 2017, Rostec and UEC came under US sanctions.

The US Department of Justice said that Korshunov was an employee of a state company, and before that he was an official, including working for the Russian Foreign Ministry. Judging by the biography published on the UEC website, Korshunov worked for 13 years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

Korshunov first came to the ministry in 1990, immediately after studying at the Diplomatic Academy of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He studied at the Moscow Energy Institute, the Higher School of Economics, and the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

What are Korshunov accused of?

The US Department of Justice published an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Michael Runnels, who was investigating the case. Runnels gave his testimony on August 21, 2019 - it is on them that the accusations against Korshunov are based.

According to investigators, Korshunov was allegedly engaged in industrial espionage since 2013 of the year. In addition to Korshunov and Bianchi, at least three unnamed persons appear in the case, it follows from the testimony of Rannels. These are former and current GE employees.

One of them, a US citizen, testified to the FBI and provided various documents to the US law enforcement agencies, including contracts and correspondence with Korshunov and Bianchi. He worked as an engineer at the Italian branch of GE.

The FBI has also received warrants for viewing email accounts associated with Korshunov and Bianchi. Other UEC employees also participated in the correspondence, the FBI report said.

Photo: Facebook / Alexander Korshunov

59-year-old Bianchi was the director of the Italian branch of GE Aviation. He was responsible for developing business with China, Russia and Asia. Around 2013, Bianchi left GE and founded his company Aeronova in Italy.

In the same period, according to the FBI, Korshunov and Bianchi hired three GE employees to suggest how to improve the PD-14 engines. In documents, this is called consulting. This is what Putin spoke of, calling it “absolutely natural world practice.”

Aeronova, according to FBI documents, concluded a contract with the Russian company Aviadvigatel (part of the UEC) for an amount of 150 thousand euros, also under this contract it was necessary to pay VAT to the Russian budget in 27 thousand euros. In fact, the contract was performed by current GE employees, the FBI says.

On the subject: Russian businessman accused of espionage in the United States faces 10 years in prison

An FBI agent describes that Korshunov, Bianchi, and GE employees used a whole system to disguise their work. In letters they did not call each other by name, but used the word "guys", and Korshunov asked to remove the names from some letters.

In 2013, Korshunov and Bianchi also organized a meeting with the “guys” at the Le Bourget air show in France and bought them air tickets. The meeting took place on June 20, 2013 - and an FBI informant took part in it, it follows from the investigation.

GE managers and security officials confirmed to the FBI that the reports of the “guys” were based on the secret developments of the company and its Italian subsidiary, the report said. According to the report, the company believes that this is their intellectual property, and the employees were not authorized to transmit this information to Bianchi or Korshunov.

In 2015, according to FBI documents, the China Engine Corporation (AECC) appears in correspondence, which also asks UEC to help with the development of the engine drive box - it was for the development of this part, according to the FBI, that GE's developments were used.

Since the end of 2017, Korshunov and Bianchi have tried to expand the team of consultants - to attract people who previously worked at GE, the FBI says.

What are PD-14 and PD-35?

The indictment mentions the PD-14 and PD-35 engines.

Both engines are key elements of important aviation projects: the new Russian aircraft MS-21 and the Russian-Chinese wide-body aircraft CR-929.

MC-21 aircraft was first presented to the public. Who and what is it made of?

PD-14 is the first Russian engine of high thrust. In 2016, Dmitry Rogozin, who was then deputy prime minister, said that money for the development of this engine comes from the presidential reserve.

The MS-21 aircraft was originally supposed to be delivered in two versions - with American Pratt and Whitney engines and with the Russian PD-14. The first aircraft released were assembled and tested with Pratt and Whitney.

The Federal Air Transport Agency in November 2018 certified PD-14. Its serial production has not yet begun. It will begin in the 2020 year, said Sergei Popov, Managing Director of UEC Perm Motors.

In April 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced a tender worth 12 billion rubles to finalize the PD-14 aircraft engine before being certified by a European agency. The tender won the UEC.

New technologies were developed to create the PD-14 engine, but the cost of preparing for its production is significantly lower than their foreign counterparts, said RIA Novosti UEC deputy general director Yuri Shmotin.

PD-35 is one of the engine options for the Russian-Chinese wide-body CR-929 aircraft. It is being developed by the Russian United Aircraft Corporation and the Chinese company Comac. The engine can be used for a promising military transport aircraft.

In the 35 year, UEC estimated the total costs of PD-2016 in 180 billion rubles. According to the UEC, PD-35 will be certified in the 2027 year, its tests will begin in the middle of the 2023 year.

On the subject: Top secret: how an American handed over nuclear secrets to the USSR and did not pay for it

What is an engine drive box?

Americans suspect that the efforts of Korshunov and Bianchi were aimed at obtaining technology for manufacturing an aircraft engine drive box. What it is?

“The unit drive box is a prefabricated mechanism that is used to transfer energy from a jet engine to other aircraft energy systems,” the FBI said.

UEC approximately in 2013 just tried to evaluate the efficiency of the electronic box of drive units for the PD-14 engine, the FBI reports. And at this time, on behalf of Korshunov, Bianchi hired two GE employees to improve the efficiency of this box.

The efficiency of fuel consumption, in particular, depends on the operation of the engine drive box, and Rogozin called this one of the advantages of heavy-duty engines based on PD-14.

In October 2016, Korshunov asked Bianchi if the “guys” knew how to design a drivetrain design for a larger engine. The PD-35 is just larger and later it is also mentioned in the FBI investigation.

The engines of the GE90 family, the manufacturing technology of which, according to the FBI, could be of interest to Korshunov, are the largest in the history of aviation.

What awaits Korshunov next?

The US authorities are going to seek the extradition of Korshunov from Italy. According to the US Department of Justice, he faces imprisonment of up to 10 years.

A court session was held in Naples on Friday, but only procedural issues were resolved.

The extradition procedure is simple, Dmitry Gololobov, head of Gololobov & Partners, explained to the BBC. The applicant country is given time to send a full request, then this request is considered by the court.

There are a number of obstacles to extradition.

“For example, according to the European Convention on Extradition, persons for political and military crimes are not subject to extradition,” Gololobov clarified.

“This is undoubtedly a painful topic for Russia, but it cannot overwhelm the Americans. Moreover, formally they are doing everything correctly,” he added.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Accused of espionage: Russian businessman arrested at US request

Russian businessman accused of espionage in the United States faces 10 years in prison

Top secret: how an American handed over nuclear secrets to the USSR and did not pay for it

New US sanctions against Russia come into force

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.