Russia: Pradhan visits Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex in Vladivostok

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex here on Tuesday.

The shipyard is manufacturing various kinds of vessels, including LNG carriers, offshore vessels and passenger ships.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the facility along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the former's visit to Russia, with an aim to learn about the country's capabilities in the shipbuilding sector as well as explore possibilities of cooperation in this area.

The shipyard is a project of strategic importance for Russia's Far Eastern region and the domestic shipbuilding industry that is implemented under the authority of the Russian President, the Government of the Russian Federation and the Consortium of JSC Rosneftegaz, Rosneft and Gazprombank.

Pradhan is currently on a four-day visit to Russia and Japan from October 22 to 26. His visit comes as a follow up to the visit of Modi to Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum in September.

The minister, who is accompanied by an official and business delegation, is in Vladivostok from October 22 to 25.

During the visit, Pradhan is slated to meet First Deputy Minister for Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Sergey Tyrtsev, and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

Rosneft is the leader in the Russian oil sector and the largest global public oil and gas corporation. The company is focused on exploration and appraisal of hydrocarbon fields, production of oil, gas and gas condensate, offshore field development projects, feedstock processing, sales of oil, gas and refined products in the territory of Russia and abroad, according to an official statement.

In addition, Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Russian National Chamber of Engineers.

"The MOU will strengthen the symbolic bilateral energy cooperation, as the technical expertise of both organisations will help EIL in providing its services for upcoming projects across the hydrocarbons value chain in Russia," the statement said.