somewhat similar story, told to me back then by the director of that part of the program - when at the end of 199x the Mir space station needed some parts, and

somewhat similar story, told to me back then by the director of that part of the program - when at the end of 199x the Mir space station needed some parts, and all those USSR institutions has been already "privatized" to various extent, they got the necessary parts from the (very famous back then in St.Petersburg "Avtovo" ) flea market and sent the parts to the station.