Spending 79 billion RUB on new icebreakers

A contract on the construction of the vessels will be signed in November this year, Deputy Minister Viktor Olersky told Itar-Tass. The contract partner is the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Construction is due to start in 2012.

According to Olersky, three of the icebreakers will have a price tag of 18 billion RUB (420 mill EUR) each, while the fourth will cost 25 billion RUB (590 mill EUR).

In addition to the four vessels included in the November contract, another two icebreakers are expected to be built over the next years. Speaking at a meeting in the Maritime Board in Naryan-Mar in July this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov confirmed that the Russian Finance Ministry already has approved the costs for six new icebreakers. Three of the new vessels are to be nuclear powered, the others will have diesel engines, he said.

As BarentsObserver also reported, Russia’s next three-year budget includes RUB 20 billion for the construction of a new nuclear-powered icebreaker. Funds have also been allocated for the construction of three shallow-draft diesel-powered icebreakers which, because they are part of a newer and more advanced class, will be able to replace five old vessels.

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The construction of new icebreakers is part of Russian Arctic policies and the major stress on the development of the Northern Sea Route