Novoship Celebrates 50th Anniversary
On January 19-20, 2017 Novorossiysk Shipping Company (Novoship), a subsidiary of SCF Group, hosted special events dedicated to the company’s 50th anniversary. The anniversary ceremony was attended by Victor Olersky, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Head of the Federal Marine and River Transport Agency (Rosmorrechflot); Alexey Kondratenko, Member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Evgeniy Moskvichev, Chairman of the State Duma Transport Committee; Alexey Klyavin, President of the Russian Chamber of Shipping; Yury Sukhorukov, President of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia, and Sergey Frank, President & CEO of PAO Sovcomflot. Novorossiysk Shipping Company was officially established on January 20, 1967.
New U.S. Sanctions On Putin Allies Cause Few Ripples
The United States imposed fresh sanctions on Russian firms and government officials on Monday, a move that financial markets largely shrugged off and U.S. Republican lawmakers dismissed as too little to deterMoscow from further action in Ukraine. The reaction underscored the dilemma facing President Barack Obama: how to use sanctions to punish Moscow for its intervention in Ukraine without hurting European countries and foreign companies with deep financial ties to Russia. Washington slapped sanctions on seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to President Vladimir Putin, in response to what the White House said was Moscow's failure to adhere to an April 17 agreement on ways to resolve the crisis.
Arctic Navigation Training Center Opened in Russia
OAO Sovcomflot opens its Saint-Petersburg captain & senior officer training & engineering centre (TEC) for Arctic offshore operations. The opening of the modern training centre in Russia’s maritime capital marks an important milestone in the implementation of the SCF development strategy which provides for an expansion of company participation in oil & gas projects in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Sovcomflot vessels provide year-round support for large offshore energy projects, such as: Sakhalin-I, Sakhalin-II, Varandey, Tangguh, Escobar, and Peregrino.
Putin Orders the Creation of State Shipbuilding Champion
President Vladimir Putin ordered the government and the Industry and Energy Ministry to prepare a draft decree on setting up a state-controlled shipbuilding compan, Moscow Times reported. Shipbuilding is one of the three industries that the government wants to develop as part of its drive to diversify the economy away from oil and gas exports -- a bid spearheaded by First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. The other two sectors are the aircraft-building and space industries. The decree should be completed within the week, Putin said at Monday's Cabinet meeting. Putin added that Ivanov would supervise the creation of the company. An Industry and Energy Ministry spokeswoman said Monday that she was unaware of any prospective candidates to head the company.
Russian Shipbuilders Get Benefits
Russian Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko intends to support the Russian shipbuilding industry through new legislation to prevent it from falling behind Western competitors. His ministry estimates that up to 40 platforms will be needed for oil and gas production on then continental shelf by 2030, along with 85 specialized ships and more than 140 support ships. Among the proposed measures Khristenko told the State Duma about yesterday were the elimination of VAT on imported equipment that has no Russian-made analogs, interest-free credits for building ships, financing for modernization of production capacity. There would also be special measures “to reinforce the priority right of Russian industry to create means to develop the sea shelf…
