MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Russia will raise the combat capabilities of its Navy against the backdrop of growing threats from the West, Nikolay Patrushev, the former secretary of the Security Council and aide to the Russian president in charge of national maritime policies, said in an interview with the Izvestia daily.
"Growing threats from the West prompt us to raise our combat readiness and the technical status of our fleet; as well as to pay special attention to peculiarities of the shipbuilding industry, to development and production of new types of military equipment for the Navy, and to training of Navy personnel," he said.
Commenting on the Maritime Collegium, recently created by the Russian president’s decree, the aide said that the new body would "analyze the legislative basis related to maritime activities and update a number of documents with the purpose of meeting our country’s national development goals <...> and neutralizing external threats."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the creation of the Maritime Collegium on August 13. The body, led by Patrushev, will include councils on the strategic development of the Russian Navy, on the protection of Russia's national interests in the Arctic and on the development of and support for maritime activities. The document abolishes the interdepartmental commission of the Security Council on ensuring Russia’s national interests in the Arctic. Its functions are transferred to the established Collegium.
The Collegium’s tasks include: measures to strengthen Russia’s defense and security in the World Ocean, the development of the Northern Sea Route as a national transport artery and guaranteed access to global shipping routes, as well as the prevention of the pollution of the maritime environment and preservation of biological diversity.
The Maritime Collegium will consist of 52 members, among them the heads of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Education and Science, the heads of littoral regions, the heads of the Border Guard Service and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the CEOs of major shipbuilding companies.