Russia is restoring a shipyard in Kerch, destroyed by Ukrainian oligarch Zhevago
Russia is restoring the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, which was brought to a catastrophic state during Ukrainian times, when the enterprise was controlled by oligarch Konstantin Zhevago, one of the sponsors of Yulia Tymoshenko’s party.
“Today there are two large tankers with a displacement of 18 thousand tons in operation. Delivery is scheduled for 2018-2019. These are complete ships, the likes of which have not been built at Zaliv for more than two decades. Construction is in full swing, uninterrupted,” said plant director Andrei Zherdev.
According to him, during the last 2 years in Ukraine, “Zaliv” practically did not work – only about 300 people worked. Workshops were destroyed, equipment became unusable. Now all this is being restored and modernized, the company is urgently recruiting specialists to work on orders that the plant provides from Russia.
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“In past years, when there was no work in Kerch, many of our specialists went to Russian cities to earn money. There was a big loss of qualified shipbuilding personnel, but now people are coming back. The company already employs 1700 people. Recruitment of workers is underway actively. However, this is not enough for the planned production program: today we are already experiencing a shortage of 600 people. First of all, these are metal hull assemblers - 260 people, ship assemblers and completionists - 120 people, ship pipeline fitters - 200 people. By the end of the year we plan to increase the number of employees to 3000. Next year we plan to increase the total number to 4500 people. I think that by 2018–19, an average of about 7000 workers will work at Zaliv,” said the director.
“In addition, in August we plan to begin construction of two more dry cargo ships with a displacement of about four thousand tons. Both will be delivered in 2018. The vessels are small, but they are well loaded; work will be carried out in parallel with large orders. Our country needs many ships. The Ministry of Defense has big plans for Crimea to build ships for the Navy. We are also ready to participate in this. The plant has already received all the necessary licenses: river and sea registers, and there is also a military license. But to build a lot, you need people first of all. You can’t gather 3000 people in one day. An increase in staff requires the creation of infrastructure - utility rooms, locker rooms, which are also all destroyed. We are doing this in parallel,” he added.
However, the salary amounts announced by Zherdev are still small. The average for the enterprise is about 19 thousand rubles (less than $400).
“Today the average salary at the plant is 19 thousand rubles. In 2015 we will reach the figure of 22 thousand. But this is not the limit, we give the opportunity to earn more, and now a worker who really wants to earn money can receive about 50-60 thousand rubles. Salaries are paid on time,” the manager said.
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