federal assistance
The modernization of the Zhatai shipyard, built during the Great Patriotic War, began in 2019. Then, in the presence of the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, the first pile of a modern shipbuilding plant was driven.
From 2019 to 2021, the Russian government allocated more than four billion rubles in budget investments for modernization and capacity development to create a modern river fleet for cargo transportation in the Lena Basin and the Arctic zone of Russia. This indicates the economic importance of the facility not only for Yakutia, but for the entire country.
– The Zhatai high-tech shipyard project is, in many ways, a system. It will breathe new life into the Zhatai urban district and our river fleet. The shipyard will be able to build up to ten river and sea vessels annually. The project will also make it possible to modernize the current Zhatai ship repair plant, recycle ships and turn the Yakutia agglomeration into a shipbuilding center for the Lena River basin and other rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean, says the head of Yakutia , Aisen Nikolaev.
The president instructed
At a meeting on the development of Far Eastern cities, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) will receive help from the federal budget to complete the first stage of modernization of the Zhatai shipyard.
Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian government, together with the authorities of Yakutia, to agree on the completion of the modernization of the Zhatai shipyard, proposing to decide “onshore” how it will be done.
– Regarding the Zhatai Shipyard, I ask my government colleagues, together with the leadership of Yakutia, to take measures to complete the first stage of its modernization and, if necessary, consider the possibility of transferring federal participation in this enterprise to the property of the region. We discussed it with the deputy prime minister, with the head of the region, if everyone agrees, we have to do it,” said the Head of State.
He explained that if such a decision is made, the republic should be responsible for completing the reconstruction of the shipyard.
About rescheduling
The facility was supposed to be completed in 2020. But since the start of the reconstruction of the high-tech shipyard, the project has changed for objective reasons, as has the timing of its commissioning. The main reason was the increase in construction costs due to the imposition of sanctions.
In September 2021, Yakutia authorities announced that the shipyard’s commissioning date had been postponed to 2022. In November 2022, the facility’s commissioning was postponed to 2023…
In case of transfer of the federal share in the shipyard to the ownership of the region, the responsibility for completing the reconstruction of the enterprise will fall to the republic.
The cost of construction increased by 1.1 billion rubles, additional funds were found, but the contracting company could not use them. The head of Yakutia appealed to the Russian government with a request to transfer the state share to the property of the republic and issued appropriate guarantees.
Aisen Nikolaev said that the construction of the Zhatai shipyard in Yakutia is planned to be completed in 2024, and the first ship will be laid down in 2025.
Infographic “RG” / Rafael Zaripov
Help “RG”
The Zhatay shipyard is being built in the priority development territory of Yakutia with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Eastern Development of Russia. As of early September, the facility’s construction readiness status was more than 70 percent complete. Currently more than 130 people work there and 18 pieces of equipment are in use. A helmet production block is being built. The project is implemented within the framework of the federal state program “Development of shipbuilding and marine technology for the development of offshore fields.”
