EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: TETIS PRO,

UNCLAS MOSCOW 011261 SIPDIS USDOC FOR 532/OEA/MHAMES/DMUSLU USDOC FOR 3150/USFCS/OIO/CEENIS/MCOSTA USDOC FOR 532/OEE/MO'BRIEN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BEXP ETRD ETTC RS SUBJECT: EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: TETIS PRO, MOSCOW, RUSSIA, LICENSE NO. D363236 REFTEL: USDOC 04979 ¶1. Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. ¶2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Tetis Pro, Moscow, Russia. The company is listed on BIS license application D363236 as the ultimate consignee of a modular multibeam echosounder system. These items are controlled for national security reasons under ECCN 6A001. The licensee is Reson, Inc., 100 Lopez Road, Goleta, Ca 93117. ¶3. On September 29, 2006, Export Control Attache Donald Pearce and FSN Natalya Shipitsina conducted the requested pre-license check at the offices of Tetis Pro, Ozernaya st., 42, Moscow, Russia. The export control team met with Alexander Yakovlev, Head of the Remote Operated Vehicles Department. ¶4. Tetis Pro, founded in September 1991, is a supplier of commercial diving equipment and technical services for underwater operations. The main clients of Tetis are the Ministry for Emergency Situations (Russian abbreviation MChS, sometimes referred to as EMERCOM) who are responsible for underwater search and rescue, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russian abbreviation MVD) who are responsible for law enforcement divers, and oil and gas companies such as Lukoil and Gazprom. Tetis Pro is also building a deep-water rescue vehicle for the Russian Navy. Commercial dive equipment is not produced in Russia, so the company imports almost all equipment from outside of Russia. Tetis Pro has working relationships with several U.S. companies, such as Bauer-Poseidon, Stanley Tools, and Ocean Technical Systems, among others. Over the past two to three years, Tetis Pro has seen profits of around 2,000,000 USD, making it the leading commercial diving supplier in Russia. ¶5. The echosounder in reftel will be utilized in an oceangoing system for search and rescue. Tetis Pro is designing the system for the Ministry for Emergency Situations (Russian abbreviation MChS, also known as EMERCOM). Tetis began working with Reson four years ago, through their Denmark headquarters. The company bought several single-beam echosounders for the Transneft company, the Russian state unitary company responsible for pipelines. Those Echosounders are used in shallow water for survey purposes. ¶6. The echosounder will be stored at Tetis Pro prior to its delivery to the MChS. Tetis Pro has a storage facility on site, with a 24 hour attendant security guard. The storage area is alarmed, and access is limited to company personnel with responsibilities in the warehouse. As the company is a government contractor, all personnel are required to go through an FSB First Directorate background check. When transferred to MChS, the system will be in the possession of the Central Squadron Special Operations group, who is responsible for waterborne operations. ¶7. Tetis Pro took delivery of a multi-beam echosounder of similar specifications from Reson in May. The unit was used by Mr. Yakovlev during a rescue operation for a downed Russian airliner in the Black Sea, and successfully located the site of the debris field. Mr. Yakovlev showed the team a Reson system with a Federal Acoustics echosounder, model EM-7187, Serial Number 0806139. ¶8. Recommendations: Post recommends Tetis Pro, Moscow, Russia, as reliable recipients of sensitive U.S. origin commodities. It is requested that post be notified of final disposition of the application, and of any shipments for this organization in order to conduct appropriate FCS follow-up and statistical reporting. (FCS MOSCOW/SBOZEK/DPEARCE) BURNS