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Murmansk yard protests Rosneft takeover

Rosneft is not wanted in Roslyakovo, shipyard workers say to Putin.

The Roslyakovo yard requests President Putin to stop Rosneft’s plans in Murmansk.

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In a letter signed by more than 300 employees, the company warns against the planned transformation of Shipyard No 82 from military yard to oil base and logistical center. The letter was sent to President Vladimir Putin in early Apri, Bloger51 reports.

The yard workers argue that the transformation of the company will make it far harder for the Northern Fleet to conduct repair operations of its fleet. Yard No 82 in Roslayakovo has since it was established in 1947 been a military enterprise.

Repair works of Navy vessels like Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier and the Petr Veliky missile cruiser, as well the new Borey strategic subs, will suffer, the yard workers say.

As previsously reported, Rosneft in 2013 announced that it wanted to place a lion’s share of its planned Arctic base operations in Roslyakovo. The new base would include various functions, among them service facilities for drilling rigs and oil plaforms. As many as 1500 new jobs will be created at the base, the company says.

In order to facilitate the developent, regional authorities have subsquently taken Roslyakovo out of the closed military territory of Severomorsk and instead included it in the city of Murmansk. That transition was necessary for the development of major non-military operations, Rosneft said.