[FPSPACE] Semenov on Mir and MirCorp

[Dwayne Allen Day]

Its too late for Mir, Russian overseer says
Backers seek IPO cash, but Energia president says time is running out fast

By Brock N. Meeks
MSNBC 	 	
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12  The Mir space stations private
backers say their venture is headed for the stock market, but space-age
investors may soon find they have nothing to invest in but memories,
Russias top space industry executive told MSNBC.com Thursday. He said
there wasnt enough time to keep Mir alive unless Russian leaders took
drastic measures.	 

   MIRCORP, AN Amsterdam-based company formed last year to save Mir when
Moscows cash-starved government was about to cut it loose, is leasing the
space station for commercial operations from RSC Energia, the Russian
space company that operates the 14-year-old outpost. 
   MirCorps investors have put in tens of millions of dollars so far, and
on Thursday they announced that they planned to raise $117 million in an
initial public offering to extend Mirs life even further.
   News of the IPO seemed to come as a surprise to Energia President Yuri
Semenov, who is also MirCorps chairman of the board. Energia owns a 60
percent stake in MirCorp, with the remainder held by the private
investors.
   If this [IPO] had been done at the beginning of this year, and we would
have received $100 million, and we would have invested this $100 million
then Mirs fate would have been addressed and seen in a different way, said
Semenov, speaking through an interpreter.
   Today, this is too late, he said during Thursdays interview at the
Washington offices of Spacehab, a commercial space company.
   
VETERAN OF THE SPACE BUSINESS
   Semenov has spent more than 40 years in the Russian space industry and
was chief engineer for projects ranging from the Salyut and Mir space
stations to the short-lived Buran space shuttle. In addition to its key
role on Mir, Energia is Russias top contractor in the 16-nation, $60
billion International Space Station effort.

[snips]

   Semenov said the Russian government was giving Energia the money and a
launch vehicle to send an unpiloted Progress supply ship to Mir next
week. The Progress mission will temporarily boost the space stations
orbit, which is drifting downward due to unusually high solar activity. 
   Thats federal money and a federal program, Semenov stressed. The
[Russian] federal program has only capabilities to end Mirs life and
deorbit Mir, he said. 

[snips]

   Semenovs discouraging words about a MirCorp IPO came as a surprise to
Chirinjeev Kathuria, an Internet entrepreneur who sits on MirCorps board
and has provided millions of dollars to keep the space station going.
   Ive talked to [Semenov] personally many times, and he feels the IPO is
a very good idea, and if successful will keep Mir in orbit for the long
term, Kathuria told MSNBC.com by cell phone. 

[snips]

   Even $117 million in fresh IPO cash wont sway the Russian government in
the present situation, Semenov said Thursday. 
   At the moment it cannot, its not capable to do that, Semenov
said. MirCorp is catastrophically short of time, he said.