The conflict heated up again last week, when a Ministry of Defence inspection, attending the shipyard on November 5, left without any decent promises to provide funding. Instead, the yard was advised to start implementing a free market economy, and stop begging from the Ministry of Defence.

According to the Zvezda labour union, the Ministry of Defence debts for works performed now amount to almost 11 million USD. Both repairs on nuclear-powered submarines and decommissioning of laid-up subs have practically reached a stand-still this year.

On June 30, 300 angry and desperate workers of Zvezda yard blocked the Trans- Siberian railway for several hours. As a result, the state allocated 1.8 million USD to cover some 10% of the total salary debts.