The chief engineer of the Nerpa shipyard Rostislav Rimdenuk in Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk region, said this in an interview to the Interfax news agency. He reminded that construction of the onshore storage facility for empty submarine reactor compartments begins in Sayda bay. Germany sponsors the whole project. The project also includes upgrade of the tug boat for reactor compartments shipment to the Sayda bay. Besides, a separate customs department has been to carry out custom clearance of the foreign equipment established in the Sayda bay, Rimdenuk said to Interfax.

The Energiewerke Nord GmbH (EWN) based in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany, was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour to function as project co-ordinator. Energiewerke Nord GmbH, or EWN, represents Germany and chooses all the subcontractors for the project. Russia will carry out all construction works, or 60% of the project. German companies will implement 40% of the project, mostly design works and production of the modern equipment.

In the presence of Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Vladimir Putin State Secretary Dr. Alfred Tacke and Sergey V. Antipov, Vice Minister for Nuclear Energy of the Russian Federation, on 9 October 2003 signed an agreement concerning the safe disposal of approximately 120 nuclear-powered submarines of Russia’s Northern Fleet. Germany contributes 300 million ˆ to the financing of this project, which is planned to be carried out over a period of six years; it is part of the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction agreed on at the 2002 G8 World Economic Summit in Kananaskis. Until 2012, Germany will contribute funds totalling up to 1.5 billion euro to the projects of the G8 Global Partnership.