Regular service of the Kometa 120M passenger hydrofoil boat was has been launched in Sevastopol today, 30 July 2018. The new transport for Crimea was created by Kalashnikov Concern, part of Rostec State Corporation. According to Rostec, the vessel will link Sevastopol and Yalta making four voyages per day. The travel time is two hours.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, RF Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Oleg Ryazantsev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District Vladimir Ustinov, Crimea head Sergey Aksyonov, Sevastopol Governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov, Kalashnikov Concern Director General Vladimir Dmitriyev, Managing Director of Vympel shipyard Oleg Goncharov, representatives of ad hoc ministries and agencies.
The Kometa 120M passenger hydrofoil boat built by Vympel Shipyard (a company of Concern Kalashnikov) is meant to cruise passengers in the coastal zone. Its passenger capacity is 120 persons and speed is about 65 km/h. The vessel is equipped with spacious economy and business class saloons as well as an automatic roll and overload reduction system.
Production of new vessels became possible through cooperation of the Central Bureau of Hydrofoil Design named after R.E. Alekseyev and Vympel Shipyard under the federal targeted programme “Development of civil marine equipment in 2009-2016. By 2025, civil products are to make 30% of the shipyard’s backlog of orders.
Rostec State Corporation is a Russian corporation that was established in 2007 to facilitate the development, production and export of high-tech industrial products designed for civilian and military applications. The Corporation comprises over 700 organizations that are currently part of 11 holding companies operating in the military-industrial complex and 3 holding companies working in civilian industry, as well as 80 directly managed organizations. Rostec's portfolio includes well-known brands such as AVTOVAZ, KAMAZ, Kalashnikov Concern, Russian Helicopters, VSMPO AVISMA, UralVagonZavod, etc. Rostec companies are located in 60 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and supply products to more than 70 countries. In 2016, the consolidated revenue of Rostec amounted to 1 trillion 266 billion rubles, while the consolidated net income and EBITDA amounted to 88 and 268 billion rubles respectively. In 2016, the average salary in the Corporation was 44,000 rubles. According to Rostec strategy, the main objective of the Corporation is to ensure that Russia has a technological advantage in highly competitive global markets. Rostec's key objectives include the introduction of a new techno-economic paradigm and the digitalization of the Russian economy.
Concern Kalashnikov is the largest Russian manufacturing company that produces assault and sniper rifles, guided artillery projectiles and a wide range of precision weapons. The major part of the civilian products includes hunting shotguns, sporting rifles, various machines and tools.
The Concern is the flagship of the Russian small arms manufacturing sector, producing about 95% of all small arms in Russia and supplying to more than 27 countries around the world.
The Concern contains three brands: “Kalashnikov” (combat and civilian weapons)”, “Baikal” (hunting and civilian guns), and “Izhmash” (sporting rifles), also the Concern is developing new business lines that include remote weapon stations, unmanned aerial vehicles and multi-functional special-purpose boats.
As of today 25% plus one share of the Concern shares belong to Rostec, while 75% minus one share of the company belongs to private investors.