A draft law on shipbuilding that would consolidate Russia's state requirements for civilian and military vessels into a single programme of long-term orders has been submitted to the presidential administration.
Sergei Vakhrukov, head of the presidential directorate for national maritime policy, announced the submission at a Federation Council roundtable on domestic shipbuilding and ship repair on Tuesday, October 27.
He warned that, without substantial measures, more than 92 per cent of Russia's river fleet could be older than 40 years within several years. He added that recent newbuild deliveries had fallen substantially short of renewal requirements.
"Today, on the one hand, we are investing large amounts of state money in the reconstruction of various enterprises, particularly shipbuilding enterprises, and then we cannot provide them with orders," Vakhrukov said.
Under the proposal, demand would be assessed from cargo carriers' applications and the national transport-economic balance of cargo volumes, routes and required vessel types.
State-support measures now spread across separate programmes would be combined. Only vessels included in the consolidated programme would qualify for support, subject to expert assessment of their designs.
A separate bill would establish a national shipbuilding research centre named after Academician A.N. Krylov.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Albert Karimov told the roundtable that 370 vessels were under construction, with yards delivering around 110 annually.
The proposals follow the Maritime Collegium's approval of a maritime centre concept in September. United Shipbuilding Corporation also began construction of its first unified-platform river-sea cargo ship at Krasnoye Sormovo that month.
