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Zhatai Shipyard to make vessels for Yakutia’s Arctic rivers, region’s head says

The United Shipbuilding Corporation considers a financial mechanism, using which shipping companies could order vessels, including for the Arctic

YAKUTSK, May 29. /TASS/. Yakutia’s Governor Aisen Nikolayev said in an interview with the Vedomosti daily he hopes the Zhatai Shipyard, which will go operational in 2021, will satisfy the demand in vessels not only for the Lena River’s basin, but also for the region’s Arctic rivers.

According to him, the United Shipbuilding Corporation considers a financial mechanism, using which shipping companies could order vessels, including for the Arctic region.

"Those would be interesting leasing programs with low interest rates, which will be economically attractive for the Extreme North," he said in an interview, published on Wednesday. "The navigation season is short, and vessels work for about four months and remain idle for the rest of the year, while shipping companies cannot work if they face high interest rates."

State officials discussed this problem in Yakutsk in April, when Minister of Industry Denis Manturov came there to begin the shipyard’s construction. "We have discussed this matter, the ministry understands all the aspects and will work on financial mechanisms, including also the recycling fee for those who order new vessels," the governor said. "As for the production scale, the Zhatai Shipyard, of course, should satisfy the demand in vessels not only for the Lena, but also for the Yana, for Indigirka, for the Kolyma, and even for the Yenisei."

The shipyard will build every year about ten river vessels, upgrade six vessels, and recycle at least two vessels. Yakutia may receive for the shipyard’s construction from the federal budget about 4.1 billion rubles ($63 million). The regional and off-budget investments will make 1.5 billion rubles ($23 million).