Shipbuilding industry to be at the сrossroads
Russian Shipbuilding industry overcomes transition period. There are a number of issues that must be resolved in the coming years – supply of domestic shipyards with an equal job conditions with foreign competitors by providing the relevant customs and tax preferences, production and management processes of IT-technologies application, equipment modernization and preservation of jobs. In these circumstances, shipbuilders want to be engaged in elaboration of necessary state measures and establish effective exchange of information between business and government.
It is obvious that without government support of the shipbuilding industry, without modernization of domestic shipyards and construction of new ones, Russian shipbuilding will gradually quit the scene, and orders will still be received by Western and Asian shipyards. At the same time, every job in the shipbuilding industry establishes up to 7 jobs in related fields. Shipbuilding enterprises make up the backbone of industries of several major Russian cities such as St. Petersburg. Therefore, we must prevent the disappearance of this industry.
Noteworthy, the industry, in spite of everything, is on the rise. According to Vladimir Alexandrov, CEO of St. Petersburg "Admiralty Shipyards" (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation - USC) the main Russian shipbuilding enterprises have finally found their niche in the market. Shipyards get export and government orders. In particular, the volume of output of "Admiralty Shipyards" is planned to increase by more than 3 times in 2010 as of 2009 - to 23-25 billion rubles. According to Vladimir Alexandrov, "Admiralty Shipyards" and "Baltic Shipyard" are able to perform the order for the construction of two helicopter ships of Mistral type, though for this they need more time process preparation.
On the other hand, if nothing changes, then the progress made by domestic shipbuilding will not be last forever. The problem is that, while making no amends to the current legislation, shipbuilders can not compete with foreign enterprises, which have special preferential tax and customs regimes. Especially if we take into account Russian climate, we see how it imposes additional costs for construction, equipment and electricity. Another problem is the huge social burden of Russian shipyards. According to Mr. Alexandrov, if in the current conditions we introduce IT-technologies everywhere, technologies that automate the production and management processes, then we will have to cut up the staff in 5 times. And this is unacceptable. Therefore the only solution is to increase the volume of orders that can not be carried out without state supportive measures aimed at domestic shipbuilding.
Currently, Russian Ministry of Transport is preparing a bill on the support of shipbuilding and navigation, providing a number of customs and tax incentives for shipbuilding enterprises.
Still, shipbuilders are not really aware of the forthcoming bill. The exchange of information between enterprises and government agencies in this regard is weakly adjusted. According to Mr. Alexandrov, he as a leader of one of the leading shipbuilding companies in Russia does not have enough information about the specific proposals made by Ministry of Transport.
"Ship-building - is in the responsibility of state, the issue to be solved by the Government, Vladimir Alexandrov says. - We have already mentioned that to a certain extent some issues, related to the legislative framework, with taxation, customs clearance, infringe upon us. But now we hope that some changes will be achieved after all.
Sofia Vinarova