OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2012. NCSP Group (LSE: NCSP, Moscow Exchange: NMTP) reports that the first shipment of new cargo handling equipment has been delivered to NCSP: two mobile rubber-tire cranes LIEBHERR LHM 550 with a lifting capacity of 124 tonnes. The new equipment has proved well during the test run (the first crane was purchased in November, 2011) - both from technical and operational sides. Start of production operations is scheduled for mid- December, 2012.

Rado Antolovic, CEO of NCSP said:Operational efficiency improvement is one of our key objectives within the framework of NCSP’s long-term strategy. Comprehensive renewalof outdated handling equipment is a necessary step to achieve this objective. Modern equipment will greatly contribute to better productivity and quality of pick-and-place jobs, and will significantly decrease energy consumption. In the medium term, we plan to add to NCSP’s fleet more than 60 units of equipment: cranes, truck loaders of various capacity, roll trailers, etc. It should be noted that the purchased equipment meets the latest environmental and technical safety standards”.

New mobile cranes will be installed on berths No. 16 and No. 18 of Broad pier No. 1 for container handling instead of Gottwald cranes of a 100-tonne lift capacity.

The delivery of new, up-to-date cargo handling equipment is a part of the leasing agreement for the purchase of seven new cranes. The remaining equipment will be delivered during the years of 2013-2014. In the near future we are waiting for the delivery of eight harbour tractors TERBERG RT 223.

NCSP Group is the largest port operator in Russia and the third-largest in Europe, in terms of cargo turnover. NCSP shares are traded on Russia's Moscow Exchange (ticker: NMTP) and on the London Stock Exchange in the form of GDRs (ticker: NCSP). 50.1% shares of PJSC “NCSP” belong to Novoport Holding Ltd, the beneficial owners of which are OJSC “Transneft” and Summa Group. NCSP Group cargo turnover in 2011 totalled 157 million tonnes. Consolidated revenue according to IFRS totalled USD 1,050 million and EBITDA was USD 550 million, in 2011. NCSP Group consolidates the following companies: PJSC “Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port”, LLC “Primorsk Commercial Port”, PJSC “Novorossiysk Grain Terminal”, OJSC “Novorossiysk Ship Repair Yard”, OJSC “NCSP Fleet”, OJSC "Novoroslesexport", OJSC “IPP”, LLC “Baltic Stevedore Company” and CJSC “SFP”.