Conference ‘Russian International Register of Vessels: practice, problems and perspectives’ is over
On April 16, the conference ‘Russian International Register of Vessels: practice, problems and perspectives’ took place in St. Petersburg. It was dedicated to the issues of the Russian International Register of Vessels, theproblems and perspectives of Russia’s commercial fleet revival, aspects of shipbuilding, classification, insurance, taxation and customs clearance of vessels flying the flag of the Russian Federation.
The conference was organized by information-and-analytical agency PortNews under the auspices of the Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation.
“Considering the increasing competition of global economy including transport sphere and the requirements of World Trade Organization, General Agreement on Trade in Services as well as Organization for Economic Organization and Development, the period of direct protectionist measures is over,” Mr. Klyavin, Director of the Department for the State Policy of Sea and River Transport of the RF Ministry of Transport said in his report. The efforts of the majority of countries are focused on improvement of national transport’s competitiveness.
The opening speech was read by Mr. Olersky, deputy Chairman of the Maritime Council (St. Petersburg Government), Chairman of the BOD of North Western Shipping Company OJSC in the name of Valentina Matvienko, St. Petersburg Governor.
“It is symbolic to hold such a conference as Russian International Register of Vessels: practice, problems and perspectives’ in the maritime capital of Russia. A lot of important things are being done in St. Petersburg for the development of national shipping industry. Large-scale shipbuilding and stevedoring project are being implemented here. The largest shipping company of Russia – Sovcomflot – has been registered in St. Petersburg.”
According to Governor’s speech “creation of a maritime register in Russia not only ensures the conditions for vessels’ registration under Russian flag but also opens new perspectives for shipping companies as well as for Russian commercial fleet as a whole. Russian International Register of Vessels will contribute to improvement of competitiveness of the national fleet and encourage investments into its development with prevention of transfer to ‘flags of convenience’.
The conference’s speakers were:
I.M. Rusu, deputy head of RosMorRechFlot (Russia’s Federal Agency of Marine and River Transport)
I.I.Pankov, deputy Director General of Sovcomflot OJSC
N.G. Smirnov, Chairman of the Association of Shipping Companies
S.V. Razgulin, deputy head of the Department for tax and customs-tariff policy of the RF Ministry of Finance
E.N. Bricheva, chief inspector of the Department for tax collection of the State Administration for federal customs revenue and tariff regulation, FTS
Jens Schreiter, Head of Division Ships in Operation at Germanischer Lloyd in Russia
Artur Gavlyuk, Director General of North Western Shipping Company OJSC
Vladimir Popov, deputy Head of RosTransNadzor
Mikhail Romanovski, President of the Union of Russian Shipowners
In the nearest future the conference materials (recommendations and speeches) are to be published at www.portnews.ru