OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom asked the Russian Ministry of Energy to identify cases where in the Arctic for carrying out certain technical operations it's possible to use ships under foreign flags in the absence of Russian counterparts. This is stated in the letter, which Vitaly Markelov, deputy chairman of the Gazprom board, sent to Pavel Sorokin, deputy energy minister, on September 13.

Since January 1, 2019, amendments to the Merchant Shipping Code have been in force in Russia, prohibiting the use of ships flying a foreign flag to transport goods in the Arctic along the Northern Sea Route, including oil, gas and coal, as well as caboting. They were designed to support Russian shipbuilding by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Earlier, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a strategy for the development of the shipbuilding industry, according to which the number of ships being built in the country and the volume of shipbuilding products for export by 2035 should grow several times.