FESCO WILL HAVE TWO CONTAINER SHIPS BUILT IN POLAND

Far East Shipping Company (FESCO) and Stocznia Szczecinska Nowa yard in Poland signed a contract on two container ships with a carrying capacity of 1,730 TEU.

The new ships are expected to be put into operation in late 2007. This project is part of the approved "Fleet Renovation Programme" and "FESCO Strategic Development Plan through Year 2009." Szczecin yards built six container ships for FESCO during 1994-98. - Yury ROGOV.

RUSSIAN, CHINESE BORDER GUARDS SAVED 37.6 MILLION RUBLES FOR RUSSIA

Lt. Gen. Vyacheslav Dorokhin, chief of the Far East Border Authority, declared at a joint meeting of border guards and Amurrybvod fish inspectors that cooperation between Russian and Chinese border guards saved 37.6 million rubles for Russia during last two years.

As regional border authority spokesman informed, the meeting discussed interfacing in protection of aquatic biological resources in border sections of Amur and Ussuri rivers.

111 boats, over 230 km of fishing nets and lines was confiscated from Chinese poachers during last two years. The number of poaching cases in the Russian waters of border rivers has declined 27 times since 1994, when dragnets "Putina-Amur" became regular. - Yevgeny ITAROV.

KNAAPO REFUSED TO WORK ON GOVERNMENTAL ORDER AT NO PAY

OAO Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Manufacturing Plant (KNAAPO) suspends works on combat aircraft modernization under a governmental order.

This decision was made at a meeting of the board of directors of Aircraft Holding Sukhoi in Moscow, said KNNAPO technical director Alexander Pekarsh. The reason is lack of governmental financing. - Yulia PROKHOROVA.

COMPANIES OF KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR INCREASE EXPORT SALES

By results of the first quarter of 2004, Amurskaya customs office collected over 1.3 billion rubles in customs duties, taxes and levies for the governmental budget.

This is a 72-% increase on the last year, says spokesman for customs authorities. Main sources of tax revenues originate from exports of oil and oil products, wood, rolled steel and aircraft equipment. - Yevgeny ITAROV.

BRIDGE ACROSS AMUR TO BE STARTED IN THIS YEAR

Upon signing a protocol on cooperation in 2004, Amur Oblast Governor Leonid Korotkov and Heihe People's Government Chairman Hao Heilung declared that the bridge will be started in this year.

The parties also summed up cross-border cooperation results in 2003 and outlined directions for cooperation in this year. It was stated that trade turnover has grown, border crossing points function more effectively, cultural cooperation expands.

Leonid Korotkov stressed that the protocol for 2004 includes one new provision regarding commencement of automobile bridge construction in this year after a decade of talks.

The parties will also work more actively in promoting a railway bridge project. It was decided to approve entry of foreign individuals in personal cars to the territories of Heihe and Blagoveshchensk.

The protocol fixed that technical and economic cooperation will continue, in particular, in timber production and processing. The parties will consider possibilities for joint development of Garinskoye iron ore deposit and for establishment in Amur Oblast of joint Russian-Chinese agricultural companies. - Irina DROBYSHEVA.[DD]09-04-2004

PRISCO SIGNED CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SUEZMAX TANKERS

OAO Primorsk Shipping Company (Prisco) and Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a contract on two suezmax tankers.

As Prisco spokesman informed, the tankers will supposedly be used in the Baltic Sea and, therefore, have an ice class, all necessary features for cargo transportation in northern latitudes and for passage through shallow straits connecting the Baltic Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.

Main particulars of the new ships will be: length - 285 m, beam - 50 m, draft - 15 m, deadweight - 166,000 tons. Under the contract, the tankers are to be commissioned in 2007.

They will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries yard in Ulsan, South Korea and become first vessels of this type in Prisco. Simultaneously, Prisco builds two aframax tankers of 108,000 dwt each at Brodosplit yard in Croatia and three aframax tankers of 100,000 dwt each in South Korea. These tankers are intended for oil transportation under Sakhalin-I project. - Yury ROGOV.

SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTED FOR 60% OF FOOD INDUSTRY OUTPUT IN PRIMORSKY KRAI

There were 13,190 small businesses in Primorsky Krai in 2003, of which 43% operated in trade, 14% in industry and 11% in construction sector.

By data of Primorsky Krai State Statistics Committee, small companies of all economic sectors collectively generated an output valued at a total of 20.7 billion rubles. Breakdown of their input by sector was as follows: manufactured goods - 27%, trade and catering services - 20%, construction - 23%, transport - 12%, and in the food industry small business accounted for nearly 60% of gross earnings.

Small business accounted for 10% of the region's industrial production volume, mainly food products, wood items and building materials. Thus, small businesses produced 64% of sausage, 82% of semi-finished meat products, 18% of sawmill timber, 29% of precast concrete elements and 16% of wall materials.

Capital investments into small business increased to 455.2 million rubles (+10.1%), which was 3.1% of all investments to Primorsky Krai's economy. Employment in the small business sector reached 96,800 or about 10% of the region's total employment. - Yury ROGOV.

WEAK DOLLAR MEANS MORE LOSSES TO ALROSA

Diamond producing company ALROSA's unforeseen losses due to the declining dollar-to-the-ruble exchange rate totaled 680 million rubles (roughly $23.5 million) in 2003, said ALROSA president Vladimir Kalitin at a core management meeting in Mirnyi.

The bulk of ALROSA's output being sold in international markets for US dollars, its receipts are declining in ruble equivalent. In parallel, its costs expressed in rubles considerably grew due to inflation. Rise in international diamond prices does not compensate for exchange rate and inflationary losses. - Yury ROGOV.

COAL COMPANY SOLD FOR 180.6 MILLION RUBLES

An open auction for coal company OAO Dalvostugol was held in Raichikhinsk, Amur Oblast on 3 April. As spokesman for regional administration informs, auction had been announced in accordance with bailout procedures introduced by Amur Oblast arbitration court.

Dalvostugol was bought by Amursky Ugol for 180.6 million rubles. Gov. Leonid Korotkov declared he hopes that new management will recover the company from financial crisis. Despite bailout procedures, Dalvostugol remains the largest supplier of power station coals to Amur Oblast and neighbouring regions. There is a positive dynamic in its performance: debts are being restructured, wages are paid on time, production volume is slightly growing. There have been practically no interruptions in coal deliveries from Raichikhinsk for a second straight year. - Yevgeny ITAROV.

AMURSKY SHIPBUILDING YARD RECEIVED ORDER FROM VIETNAM

The yard signed a contract with Vietsovpetro on construction of a tugboat for support to oil platform operations in the Vietnamese shelf, as its technical director Anatoly Adamenya declared at a meeting on social and economic development of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The contract valued at several tens of millions of dollars should be executed during one year. First time for many years, the yard will fabricate both the hull and entire superstructure. Adamenya also said that the yard received three times more military orders in this year than in 2003. - Yevgeny ITAROV.

$1.5 MILLION WORTH OF WOOD CONFISCATED IN KHABAROVSKY KRAI

Spokesman for the Far East Federal District's interior affairs office said that $1.5 million worth of illegally cut timber was seized in a specially protected area, for which felling permits simply cannot be issued.

It turned out that illegal loggers were local residents who cut valuable trees - oak, stone pine, ash, lime. All of them were detained and charged with illegal tree and shrub cutting possible sentence for which could be up to 3 years in prison. Seized wood will be sold by the government. This wood batch has been the largest since the district's interior affairs office was set up. - Yevgeny ITAROV.