Financing for the construction of new nuclear icebreakers will be reduced by 10 billion rubles.
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In the budget for 2024–2026, the government proposes to cut funds allocated for the construction of nuclear icebreakers. Financing of the lead heavy-duty icebreaker Leader may decrease by 5 billion rubles. for three years, and two new serial LK-60 – by 4 billion rubles. The reduction in funding occurs against the backdrop of a sharp increase in the cost of projects: according to Kommersant, serial icebreakers may double in price, the cost of the Leader may increase by 60%, to approximately 200 billion rubles, and the timing of its launch may shift to the end of 2029. Rosatom will have to look for additional sources of financing for these projects, including loans, which will likely lead to an increase in tariffs for the transportation of goods along the Northern Sea Route.
Financing for the construction of new nuclear icebreakers may be reduced by almost 10 billion rubles. for three years, follows from the published draft budget for 2024–2026. In particular, funds allocated for the construction of the lead heavy-duty icebreaker Leader (120 MW) will decrease by 5.24 billion rubles, for the third and fourth serial icebreakers of the Arctic type (60 MW) under construction – by 0.56 billion rubles ., on the fifth LK-60 – by 2.36 billion rubles, on the sixth – by 1.36 billion rubles. Financing for the construction of a nuclear service vessel (used for fuel reloading) is also proposed to be reduced by RUB 0.91 billion.
The volume of budget funding for Leader for 2022–2027 is 99 billion rubles, the third and fourth LC for 2022–2026 are a total of 16.5 billion rubles, follows from the development plan of the Northern Sea Route until 2035, which was published in August 2022. The cost of the nuclear-technological vessel is 24.8 billion rubles, the fifth vessel is 56.6 billion rubles, and the sixth is 61.3 billion rubles.
Rosatom did not comment on the figures indicated in the draft budget, noting that “the construction of icebreakers will continue, the timing of the projects is regulated by government regulations and concluded government contracts.” The Ministry of Finance ignored Kommersant’s request.
The reduction in budget funding for the creation of nuclear icebreakers occurs against the backdrop of their significant rise in price, which has been repeatedly stated publicly by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, without providing details. According to Kommersant, the fifth and sixth LK-60 may rise in price at least twice the price of the government contract. The total cost of the state contract for the construction of the Leader could increase by 70 billion rubles, to 199.6 billion rubles, and the deadline for delivery of the vessel to the Zvezda shipyard could shift by two years, sources familiar with the results of the July meeting told Kommersant. from the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov. Atomflot entered into a government contract for the construction of Leader in April 2020, with a completion date of December 2027.
Rosatom, based on the results of a technical and economic examination conducted by the Center for Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Technology, was supposed to submit a report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade by June 30 on the overall increase in the time and cost of construction of the Leader. Next, changes in the terms of the government contract will need to be agreed upon with the government, and Rosatom must send proposals to the government on the project’s financing scheme, Kommersant’s interlocutors say.
A source familiar with the course of the discussion says that the task is to minimize budgetary financing for the construction of the icebreaker fleet, and the need to use extra-budgetary funds is now being discussed. According to him, it is proposed to use these funds to finance the construction of ships of the Leader project. The payback of the project and the return of raised funds are planned to be ensured by increasing demand and increasing the efficiency of icebreaker assistance services (ensuring commercial speed and predictability of deadlines). Perhaps, when implementing this model, the cost of icebreaker support services will have to be increased multiple times relative to the current values, says Kommersant’s interlocutor.
One of the options for attracting investment in the construction of icebreakers is to search for private partners and investors, says Nadezhda Malysheva from Portnews. In her opinion, companies from among the shippers interested in ice transportation, which can raise money from Russian or foreign financial institutions, can act as co-investors. Significantly changing the tariff for ice transportation is a more politically difficult path, the analyst believes, since now the task is to attract foreign shipowners to the Northern Sea Route.
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