OREANDA-NEWS. November 18, 2008. Russia’s biggest shipping company, Sovcomflot Group, has contracted with Sail Training International to become a Presenting Partner for The Tall Ships Races 2009. Based in St Petersburg, one of the host ports for the race series and home port for the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy’s sail training Tall Ship MIR, Sovcomflot Group will also help to fund the City’s involvement in The Tall Ships Races. Sovcomflot Group will have a strong presence in the other host ports as well: Gdynia (Poland), Turku (Finland) and Klaipeda (Lithuania).

“We are delighted to have Sovcomflot Group as a Presenting Partner for next summer's Races. The company has a strong link and empathy with sail training through its placement over many years of all its cadets on the MIR,” said a spokesman for Sail Training International.

Sovcomflot Group's Vice-President Aleksandr Kurtynin stated, “For our company, the sponsorship support for the Tall Ships’ Races 2009 is a way of promoting the development of Russia’s maritime education. It is a concrete contribution to the improvement of the shipping cluster of St.Petersburg – the maritime capital of the country. We are sure that the day the largest sailing ships enter the Port of St. Petersburg will be a true maritime festival”.