Russia to sell shipyards due to lack of orders: a list is being prepared

The United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia is preparing a list of shipyards (enterprises for the construction and repair of ships) for sale due to the lack of orders. This was stated by Andrey Kostin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, writes The Moscow Times.

According to him, some plants have actually stopped working. In particular, the plant in occupied Sevastopol, founded in 1783, has no orders today. After massive layoffs, only about 200 people work there.

Kostin noted that companies with existing contracts will not be sold for now, but that the industry as a whole needs "a major restructuring."

The United Shipbuilding Corporation was established in 2007 by decree of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to unite disparate shipyards and provide them with orders.

This summer, the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory offered to buy out the Khabarovsk Shipyard for a symbolic ruble, and Kostin agreed. Earlier, OSK had laid off 70% of its staff there due to lack of production.

The situation is complicated by the fact that ship construction in Russia is several times more expensive than in China. For example, the three largest exporters of Russian grain plan to order more than 60 bulk carriers in this country.

• On August 15, it was reported that Russia will lay off 70% of employees of a large shipyard due to a lack of orders.