ST.PETERSBURG. Sept 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The pace of the Novik multipurpose guard ship production gives a hope that it will be commissioned by the Navy in 2005 as planned, Andrei Fomichev, deputy director general of the Yantar shipyard in charge of production, said on Tuesday.
At present production of the vessel laid down in 1997 is fully financed from the state budget, Fomichev told Interfax-Military News Agency at the Neva 2001 show.
The shipyard's facilities permit to increase volumes of vessels construction. Particularly, the enterprise is to complete constriction of two more Project 11540 guard ships which are supposed to be exported. Currently both ships are 70 percent ready.
Moreover, the shipyard continues to repair vessels for the Navy and Federal Border Guard Service. It repaired two destroyers and the Neustrashimy guard ship last year. At present the enterprise has several more ships, including the Minsk guard vessel, that are undergoing repairs. Yantar's specialists are also busy with warranty servicing of the Admiral Chabanenko large anti-submarine ship.