News
Publish date: October 31, 1997
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
Construction of a forth generation nuclear powered strategic submarine of
Borey class, the Uriy Dolgoruky, has received no funding this year. The
workers at Sevmash shipbuilding yard in Severodvinsk have no intentions to work
for free.
On October 25 last year construction started on Borey class Uriy
Dolgoruky, a forth generation strategic nuclear submarine, in Severodvinsk. The laying down of the sub, performed on November 2 1996, was little more than a symbolic gesture as the project was barely started, while ordinarily a submarine is not laid down before having reached a technical readiness equalling 6-9 % of the total project.
One year has elapsed, but apparently the submarine still has not reached 1%
completeness. Planned for commissioning in 2001, the Uriy Dolgoruky was to
receive some 273 million USD in 1997 in order to be on schedule. According to
Sevmash shipyard spokesman Boris Linshits, the Ministry of Defence has not allocated this sum so far, nor has funding been provided for any of the other construction projects at the yard. More over, the Ministry of Defence has not covered its debts to any of the yards in Severodvinsk. Currently these debts amount to some 345 million USD.
On the other hand, the working class in Severodvinsk has already learned to build submarines “free of charge”. Thus, the nuclear subs Vepr (Akula class) and Tomsk (Oscar-II class) were delivered to the Navy before all the money was transferred to the bank accounts of the shipyard.
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