01.11.2008 In a meeting with Russian defence minister this week, head of the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, was told to cut spending and increase efficiency.
During meetings in Moscow this week, company director Nikola Kalistratov was told by Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to cut spending and staff and increase efficiency, newspaper Korabelnaya Storona report.
The shipyard, one of Russia’s biggest, will have to cut spending on non-core assets and reduce the number of non-engineering staff.
Instead, the shipyard should increase the number of qualified workers, thus making the yard able to speed up construction orders, the minister argued.
Mr. Kalistratov also met with Navy Head Commander Vladimir Vysotskii for discussions on the nuclear submarine Yuri Dolgorukii, currently under construction in the yard.
Sevmash has over the last years struggled to cope with a number of construction orders, among them the reconstruction of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, as well as the modernization of an Indian diesel-engine sub. The company has also been unable to meet demands in the construction of a series of chemical tankers for the Norwegian Odfjell shipping company, resulting in the cancellation of the contract.