Mikhail Nikolayevsky: “It would be nice to have some salt wind and romance of the sea”

Ust-Luga Cup 2014 starts on June 1, 2014, in Stockholm and finishes on June 11 in Saint-Petersburg. The list of participants has been expanded this year with some new teams including the crew of the design institute Morstroytechnology. The coming Regatta was the subject of the interview with Mikhail Nikolayevsky, Director General of Morstroytechnology LLC.

- Mr. Nikolayevsky, is it the first time your company participates in the Regatta?

- Yes, the Regatta will be held for the third consecutive year but it is the first time for us.

- Why do you do this? 

- The Regatta has been initially conceived as an amateur sailing race of sea professionals whose work is connected with the sea, the Baltic Sea in particular, under the slogan “One sea. One profession. One destiny”. Morstroytechnology is a team of fellow-thinkers whose professional interests are associated with the sea, marine engineering, sea shipping logistics. From the very beginning of the Regatta it attracted ports, cargo owners, railwaymen, crane manufacturers, i.e. people with whom we share our lot, our colleagues, partners, customers. The sea is something that unites us.

The Regatta is known as Ust-Luga Cup. We have developed design and detailed documentation for the container terminal, automobile terminal (RTL), terminals of United Metallurgical Company and Eurochem in Ust-Luga. All the races have always been associated with Kuzbassrazrezugol. We are now busy with developing a detailed design for one of its structures building coal terminal Lavna in Murmansk. Our permanent partner, Murmansk Commercial Seaport, also participates in the Regatta this year.

- And still, why regatta? It is quite unusual format of a business activity for both chief and average executives.

- It has to be said that our personnel design ports but many of them, especially young people, have seen the sea only from our berths and from sunny beaches of resorts. It would be nice to have some salt wind and romance of the sea.

We think such activities are not only an excellent opportunity to spend quality time but also a method of teambuilding, development of common interest environment and corporate culture.

- How many people participate in the Regatta and who are they? 

There are 6 crewmembers but only three of them will cover the entire route: Logistics Director Aleksandr Goloviznin, Head of Hydroengineering Department Denis Kreknin and me. To let more our colleagues have first-hand nautical experience, listen to wind roaring in the sails, we will change the crew during the races. The rotating crew will include my Deputy on Economic Affairs Aleksey Vorobyov, Project Director Aleksandr Bogun, Head of IT Group Maksim Smirnov, Chief Engineers Mikhail Subbotin, Stanislav Lisovsky, Konstantin Vasilyevsky and Engineer Aleksandr Pogodin.

- How do you train before the start?

- It is a sport with a difficulty to train as we need a boat and water. We are undergoing a theoretical training so far.

- What result do you expect? Are you going to handle any professional issues with your colleagues from other companies participating in the race?

- We will strive for victory but as luck would have it … The main thing is our belief that the Regatta will let us know each other better and make new acquaintances. And, of course, we count on invigoration of the team spirit, strengthening of friendship with the colleagues, personal enrichment and just high spirits.

Interviewed by Sophia Vinarova

About Ust-Luga Cup:

The project is supported by Transport Ministry of Russian Federation and Russian Sailing Federation.

First time the Baltic regatta Ust-Luga Cup passed in June, 2012 and was dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Sea port Ust-Luga. Successful regatta became noticeable event not only in the sailing world, but also among the business public and mass media representatives. Considering a great interest to further project development from side of participants in port business in Russia and abroad, organizers made the decision to hold the Baltic regatta Ust-Luga Cup as an annual event.

Ust-Luga Cup 2014 will be held from June 1 till June 11, 2014. The regatta will follow the former route: from Stockholm (Sweden) till Saint-Petersburg (Russia) via Mariehamn (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). The participants and the guests will moor in beautiful places at picturesque islands of Sweden and Finland, visit a bright final show with a parade of sails at the Neva river and the award ceremony at the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Тechnical organizer of the event - Motor Boat & Yachting Russia. Regatta press center – IAA PortNews.