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Shipbuilding and ship repair in the Arctic discussed at SPIEF

The participants of the International Seminar on Shipbuilding and Ship Repair in the Arctic discussed ship building and the modernisation of the existing fleet for use in northern latitudes.

16 June 2022

The seminar was part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, as well as one of the activities under Russia's chairmanship in the Arctic Council. The Roscongress Foundation was the operator. According to Hajimagomed Huseynov, First Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, one of the main challenges in the field of shipbuilding and ship repair is meeting the goals set by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin: namely, ensuring the transportation of at least 80 million metric tons of cargo along the Northern Sea Route by 2024, and 150 million by 2030. Such volumes require large investments and fleet construction, he noted.

"Today we are feeling the shortage of ship repair facilities, especially in the Arctic and the Far East, meaning that we have a number of fundamental tasks to solve here," said Hajimagomed Huseynov. He believes that, in addition to the benefits of preferential business conditions in the region, it is necessary to provide 0% VAT for ship repair enterprises.

So far, for one reason or another, ship owners have preferred to repair their vessels in foreign countries. Among those reasons, is the fact that the ships belong to a foreign jurisdiction, said Alexey Rakhmanov, chairman of the board and general director of the United Shipbuilding Corporation. "We must make the Russian flag favourable for shipping, which in turn will contribute to the development of domestic ship repair," he urged. The zeroing of VAT will allow shipowners to receive a 20% benefit when repairing their fleets in Russia, compared with Norwegian shipyards, Alexey Rakhmanov summarised.

Arkhangelsk Region governor Alexander Tsybulsky noted that today, about half of foreign ports are closed for the repair of Russian ships, while Indonesia and Turkey have significantly increased the cost of work in this area. "Not only are our prices becoming competitive, but we can already do the same work cheaper," he said.

The development of safe navigation in the Arctic, including the Northern Sea Route, is one of the priorities of the Russian presidency in the Arctic Council in 2021-2023. Russia considers it important to make shipping routes in high latitudes safe, as well as environmentally friendly and economically efficient.

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