Putin gives go-ahead for starting construction of Leningrad nuclear icebreaker
ST. PETERSBURG. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the go-ahead for building the Leningrad nuclear-powered icebreaker.
"I am asking you to give your permission to attach the commemorative plate to the first section of the future Leningrad nuclear icebreaker," Andrei Kostin, board chairman of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), said addressing Putin.
"Please go ahead," Putin replied.
Speaking at the ceremony, Putin identified Russia's powerful icebreaking fleet as its huge competitive advantage.
"Russia has a unique, I'd like to stress this, a unique and the largest icebreaking fleet in the world. And this is our huge competitive advantage providing colossal opportunities for developing logistics and the industry, creating new jobs, comprehensively equipping Arctic towns and settlements, and implementing projects of a truly global level for international cooperation with our partners, friends, and all those who want and are prepared to work together with Russia," Putin said.
The event marks another step towards bolstering Russia's technological and industrial capability, he said.
"The modern and powerful Leningrad nuclear icebreaker will be the fifth ship of its series. After its construction is completed, it will work on the Northern Sea Route and will be involved in pivotal programs for developing and exploring the Arctic, delivering cargos, construction materials and fuel, and ensuring reliable and sustainable navigation in complicated and hard-to-access Arctic latitudes," he said.
The ceremony for laying down the fifth Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker, which will be called the Leningrad, took place at the Baltic Shipyard on Friday.
Alongside Putin, the chief of Russia's nuclear energy corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev, USC Board Chairman and VTB chief Andrei Kostin, Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko, and St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov took part in the ceremony.