Many of the budget overruns happened during construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The facility is badly needed to replace the aging Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a relic from the Soviet days. However, the project has been beset by delays and overruns, and when auditor Tatyana Golikova learned how much money was misused, she said "at first I could not believe my inspectors."

Russian Proton booster rocket launch at Kazakhstan's Baikonur facility

Even though corruption is rampant everywhere in government, auditors plans to flush out any new violations in the facility's construction. The space program is under particularly close scrutiny because it's Russia's most prominent export and a source of pride among the people. There's also the fact that President Putin recently pledged an extra $1 billion to finish construction of the Cosmodrome and virtually guaranteed it would be done by the end of the year.