Agenda: enhancing infrastructure to support SMEs in the new regions, providing additional funding for the construction of the Kamchatka Regional Hospital, the reconstruction of the Onega Shipyard, the construction of high-ice-class vessels for the Northern Sea Route.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Denis Manturov’s report on the construction of high-ice-class vessels for the Northern Sea Route
Excerpts from the transcript:
Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues
Mikhail Mishustin: Good morning, colleagues.
The Government continues to prioritise small and medium-sized enterprises, emphasising their development as one of our key priorities aligned with the national development goals outlined in the President’s new May executive order.
It is crucial to improve infrastructure to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, as well as in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. To facilitate this, we have decided to allocate additional federal resources totalling 3.75 billion roubles to the budgets of these four regions. These funds will also assist local residents paying tax on professional income and those aspiring to launch their own businesses.
This decision will streamline the process for entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and generate new employment opportunities.
Now, let us move on to the next question, which concerns the healthcare sector.
We continue to implement system-wide measures to guarantee access to healthcare for our citizens. This involves modernising existing medical facilities and establishing new ones equipped with essential equipment across all regions. These efforts align with one of the Government’s priority areas, as outlined by the President, which I elaborated on extensively at a plenary session in the State Duma.
Today’s decision concerns the finalisation of the initial phase of constructing the Kamchatka Regional Hospital.
During our visit to Kamchatka, we observed that it was among the few regions lacking a regional hospital. Consequently, we are allocating one billion roubles to conclude the first phase of construction. With these funds, engineering infrastructure facilities, treatment, diagnostic, and clinical buildings will be erected by year’s end. The region’s residents are in dire need of such a medical facility, which they have eagerly awaited for quite some time.
Mr Khusnullin, you are aware of the significance of this project. I urge you to personally oversee the progress of the work to ensure its timely completion. We made a commitment to the people, and it’s essential that they receive high-quality, including advanced, medical care as promised.
Another important topic pertains to the fulfilment of the priority task of developing the Northern Sea Route. These routes traverse Russia’s territorial waters and, amid external sanctions, serve as a dependable transportation corridor for exporting goods to friendly countries.
Ensuring safe and year-round navigation in the northern latitudes requires a substantial operational Arctic fleet. To ramp up the construction of such vessels, we are gearing up to inaugurate new state-of-the-art production facilities. One of these sites is the Onega Shipyard in Petrozavodsk, where, at the President’s instruction, the development of the first digital shipyard is underway. It will utilise highly efficient robotic technologies.
The Government has earmarked 2 billion roubles for the second phase of the extensive modernisation of this Karelian enterprise, which will notably enhance its production capacity over the next two years.
Mr Manturov, could you please provide an update on the progress of constructing high-ice-class vessels for the Northern Sea Route?
Denis Manturov: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.
Extensive efforts to bolster the fleet for the Northern Sea Route are underway as part of the President’s instruction to augment cargo flow along this critical international transport route, particularly in the present circumstances.
To ensure year-round navigation, the Baltic Shipyard is continuing construction of a series of nuclear icebreakers with a 60 MW capacity. Currently, three nuclear-powered vessels – Arktika, Sibir, and Ural – are operational in Arctic waters, with the next icebreaker, Yakutia, slated for delivery by year’s end. Between 2026 and 2030, three more icebreakers are expected to join the fleet. Additionally, the most powerful and unique icebreaker, Rossiya, with a capacity of 120 MW, is under construction at Zvezda Shipyard and is projected for completion around 2030.
Ensuring the safety of navigation is of paramount importance. Presently, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport and the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport, construction is underway for 15 rescue vessels designated for operations on the Northern Sea Route. These vessels include tugs and multifunctional vessels of varying capacities and specialties. Shipyards in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, and Tatarstan are actively involved in this project. To further enhance efforts in this domain, an additional 30 vessels are slated for contracting over the next six years.
Lastly, with a focus on bolstering our cargo capacity, particularly along the Northern Sea Route, the Zvezda complex has already delivered five Aframax oil tankers to customers. An additional 26 large-tonnage vessels of diverse deadweight and functionalities have been contracted.
Furthermore, the shipyard’s plans until 2037 encompass 92 ice-class cargo vessels. These include container ships, bulk carriers, and tankers.
Overall, the primary production infrastructure required for the development of the Northern Sea Route has been established. However, to ensure its capability to handle such a substantial workload, the United Shipbuilding Corporation, in collaboration with VTB, is exploring the feasibility of constructing an additional high-tech shipyard. A final decision regarding its location and specifications will be adopted before the end of this year.
Simultaneously, to execute all the plans outlined, we continue to address the overarching objective for the entire industry, which involves replacing critical ship components. Since 2022, a dedicated subsidy has been allocated for its advancement, as per the President’s decision.
In total, we allocate nearly 17 billion roubles of budget funding through this mechanism. This initiative has facilitated the commencement of 60 comprehensive projects across 35 enterprises. The initial prototypes are set to enter the market starting next year. These components will be utilised, among other applications, in ice-class vessels navigating the Northern Sea Route and fishing vessels operating in northern latitudes.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Manturov. It’s crucial to expedite this work, focusing on establishing our domestic production of all requisite equipment, units, and pivotal components. Attaining technological independency in this sphere is of paramount importance. I believe that, in collaboration with our partners from USC, we will successfully accomplish these objectives.
