VEB to extend 240 mln euros for acquisition of arctic tankers
NOVO-OGAREVO. May 26 (Interfax) - Vnesheconombank (VEB) will extend shipping company Sovcomflot 240 million euros for the acquisition and operation of vessels designed to transport oil, oil products, and gas condensate through arctic waters, VEB chairman Vladimir Dmitriev told reporters.
The bank's supervisory board approved its participation in financing this particular project on Wednesday, Dmitriev said.
Financing for this project will be done in the framework of VEB leasing activities. The idea is that these vessels will be purchased by VEB Leasing and then provided under time-charter to Sovcomflot and Gazprom .
Plans call for the vessels to be used to transport oil and gas from the arctic deposit Prirazlomnoye in the Pechora Sea. However, while that deposit is not in operation, the ships will be used for different projects. "There is already a contract for transporting oil from Murmansk to China," Dmitriev said.
Two tankers, the Mikhail Ulyanov and Kirill Lavrov, were built to order for Sovcomflot at St. Petersburg wharfs. The first has already been delivered, and the second is slated to be put to work in mid-2010. Both have deadweight of 70,000 tonnes.