MURMANSK, November 22. /TASS/. The Arctic shipbuilding and repair center will be set up in the Murmansk Region on the basis of three affiliates of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told reporters on Friday.

"We have finalized the decision with USC and the Murmansk Region actually today on consolidation of three enterprises… to set up the Arctic Shipbuilding and Repair Center on the basis of these enterprises," Manturov said.

This will make possible to consolidate resources, optimize costs, improve manageability and concentrate resources in these enterprises, he added.

The minister chaired the meeting of the coordination council of the industry on the topic of the defense industry diversification earlier on Friday.

"Key mechanisms of the federal government support are already working. The share of nondefense products in the total output of defense companies reached almost 21%, above the annual targets," Manturov said.

Establishment of the Arctic shipbuilding and ship repair center will enable attracting investments into the regional economy and creating extra jobs, Governor of the Murmansk Region Andrei Chibis told reporters

"Competencies available with us, existing capacities and the demand we currently have owing to major investments projects - all that supports the demand and capacity utilization. Our task is to make it so that the real ship repair center with the parent entity in the Murmansk Region appears with us," the Governor said.