Zvezda Begins Construction of Second Aframax Oil Tanker Financed by VEB.RF
The Zvezda shipyard has begun building the second Aframax oil tanker financed by the VEB.RF Group. The hull production workshop started metal cutting for components of the future ship, using a sophisticated gas cutting machine.
The contract to build two oil tankers for subsequent chartering was signed by Rosneft, Zvezda, the VEB.RF Group and SKF Eco (part of Sovcomflot Group) in September 2018 during the 4th Eastern Economic Forum. The tanker is scheduled for delivery to the customer in 2022. VEB.RF uses lease financing for the project.
The ships can be used for year-round navigation in ice-bound conditions. The new-generation tankers are designed to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which significantly reduces hazardous air pollutants as compared with conventional fuels: SOx by 100%, NOx by 76% and CO2 by 27%.
The project shows that large oil tankers can use gas as their main fuel, which is an environmentally responsible approach. The Zvezda shipyard already has four VEB.RF-financed ships in the pipeline.
VEB.RF Injects Over RUB830bn into Economy-Critical Projects Year-to-Date
VEB.RF lent 209 billion roubles to significant projects and issued guarantees worth over 620 billion roubles to commercial banks in January–September. Only within the last two weeks, VEB.RF provided more than 120 billion roubles for industrial and infrastructural projects and export support. Overall, VEB.RF injected over 830 billion roubles into the economy year-to-date.
These investments made it possible not only to continue economy-critical projects, but also to maintain jobs. VEB.RF’s industrial projects are the largest in the country. Many of them are financed in partnership with commercial banks. VEB.RF has a goal of putting into the economy by 2024 as much as 3 trillion roubles and jointly with partners up to 10 trillion roubles.
For instance, VEB.RF was involved in Russia’s largest ethane-containing gas processing project in the Leningrad Region near the seaport of Ust-Lug; the construction of 21 gas tankers at the Zvezda shipyard; the Udokan copper deposit project; the project to create Russia’s nationwide end-to-end track & trace system, which was recognised as the PPP deal of the year; the ongoing construction of Amur Gas Processing Plant; several methanol production projects; the project to build energy-from-waste plants for municipal solid waste in the Moscow Region; large-scale road infrastructure projects. VEB.RF fulfilled all its obligations to finance the R-Pharm innovative pharmaceutics programme. The VEB.RF-supported construction of a coal transshipment facility was completed in the Khabarovsk Territory; a production facility was built for K-grade sulphuric acid and refined oleum; approval was given to financing for the construction of the Sukhodol coal export terminal in the Far East.
From the beginning of the year, VEB.RF issued guarantees totalling over 121 billion roubles under transport infrastructure, power and engineering projects, including more than 81 billion roubles in export guarantees.
VEB.RF was also actively involved during this period with the government’s rescue scheme, issuing surety bonds for zero-interest loans to help businesses to retain employees and resume operation. Overall, the rescue programmes covered 40 commercial—chiefly regional—banks, receiving more than 498.5 billion roubles in surety bonds.