State-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) plans to build the hulls of icebreakers at St. Petersburg-based Admiralty Shipyards, a USC official said Friday.
The spokesperson for USC said that the contract may be awarded to a winner in tender or handed over to the Corp. without bidding, RIA Novosti reported.
"But in any case, the icebreakers will be built at Admiralty Shipyards, the hull and the main superstructures," he said, adding the construction will most likely begin next year.
In early July, Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said the Finance Ministry had approved funding for the construction of three nuclear-powered icebreakers. He also said that the icebreakers will be built at United Shipbuilding Corporation's facilities and instructed the USC’s head to select the yard.
United Shipbuilding Corporation, founded in 2007, incorporates three regional shipbuilding centers: JSC Western Shipbuilding Center (St. Petersburg), JSC Northern Center of Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (Severodvinsk), JSC Far Eastern Center of Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (Vladivostok), as well as leading marine design offices. United Shipbuilding Corporation also has a 50% stake in Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, a joint venture with STX Finland Cruise Oy.