Sevmash yard opened its doors to the employees on Tuesday, September 8, after being completely inactive for four days. Last week, on September 3, all the employees at Sevmash were dismissed on a compulsory leave. The administration of the yard had reportedly made the decision for fear of social unrest.

The general director of the yard, David Pashaev, returned from Moscow earlier this week, where he had tried to obtain funds to cover the wage arrears to the employees. The federal government remained indifferent to the request, while Yury Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow, promised to transfer enough cash to Severodvinsk to cover one month’s worth of salary backlog.

Sevmash yard is primarily engaged in building and decommissioning of nuclear powered submarines. The plant is currently building three nuclear-powered submarines: a forth generation strategic Borey-class submarine, a Severodvinsk-class "multi purpose" prototype submarine, and one Akula-class submarine. During the last years, the yard has been working on domestic and foreign commercial contracts, focusing mainly on equipment and installations for the oil and gas industry.