Gazprom, Rosneft ponder ordering ships

Gazprom and Rosneft plan to order 307 ships from the recently established United Shipbuilding Corporation until 2030, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said during a meeting on the development of non-military sea equipment in St. Petersburg on Friday. He noted that the corporation had already drafted a preliminary production plan. The PM stressed that the program must be designed to meet effective demand, adding that the funds earmarked under federal target programs and natural monopolies' investment programs must only be used to buy domestic equipment. He also reiterated that all arrangements for setting up the United Shipbuilding Corporation must be completed by April 1.