Moscow is ready to load the shipbuilding industry of Sevastopol with orders, but is afraid of missed deadlines
Moscow is ready to load the Sevastopol shipbuilding industry with orders, but must be sure of the availability of specialists who can ensure the completion of contracts.
Konstantin Antsiferov, deputy head of the shipbuilding industry department of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, stated this at the maritime business forum in Sevastopol, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Yesterday I made a special trip around everything - and personally visited the 13th (plant), Sevmorzavod, Inkerman, the site, and saw how realistic it is to do something in principle. Let's start with the fact that, firstly, we need an expert opinion... Let's start with the simplest thing, with a tugboat, with something that we can actually do... There will be orders, but we need to show our ability to work. Colleagues, let’s be honest, we don’t really care about the price, we care about the timing,” Antsiferov said.
According to the general director of Sevmorzavod Vladimir Bazhenov, during the Ukrainian years the plant did not receive orders and lost many qualified workers.
During Ukrainian times, Sevmorzavod did not deliver a single turnkey vessel; specialists in these technically complex specializations fled. Today these people are returning to the plant. Mechanics, construction workers, and pipe fitters are returning. Today they need loading. If we talk about the short term, I can say that today we are preparing for the lowering of a 700-ton crane; workers specializing in hull preparation and hull welding are being released. We have already written a letter to USC, the parent organization, saying that in the next two or three months, 100 people will be released. Where are the next orders? There are none,” said Bazhenov.
Vice-Governor Maria Litovko assured that the Sevastopol authorities are trying to help find customers for what was once the largest enterprise in the city - Sevmorzavod should receive an order for the construction of 10 fishing vessels from the local enterprise Aquamarine.
Let us recall that during the period when Crimea became part of Ukraine, Sevmorzavod belonged to the Ukrainian oligarch and now ex-president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. It was nationalized in 2015, making it a branch of the Zvezdochka ship repair center.
Earlier, PolitNavigator wrote that Western sanctions and the sad experience of working with Ukrainian enterprises play against shipyards in Crimea.
Nevertheless, Crimean shipbuilding enterprises have learned to circumvent sanctions when participating in electronic trading on Russian platforms.
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