Tech firms commit to Russian shipbuilding

Moscow - Dassault Systèmes, one of EU’s leading software and IT companies, has stated its commitment to the Russian shipbuilding industry in the face of trade sanctions imposed on the country in the wake of the Crimea crisis, writes Eugene Gerden. Laurent Valroff, head of Dassault Russia and CIS, said that the company plans to expand its portfolio of Russian projects, which include the supply of new software and IT technologies to Russia’s leading shipbuilding companies. Dassault has already supplied companies including Sevmash, Zvezdochka, and Tyazhmash, and plans to further expand its customers’ portfolio. Valroff said: “The current difficult geopolitical situation does not prevent us from believing that the Russian and CIS markets are promising for the development of our company. We plan to implement the existing investment programme for Russia to its full scale.” In recent weeks other major IT hardware and software suppliers – among them Aveva, MSC Software and Ansys - have announced their intention to continue implementation of their Russian projects.

MSC Software’s plans in Russia, for example, include the supply of software systems for vibroacoustics to the Russian Navy. Meanwhile Russia is also looking east to advance its shipbuilding technology. According to an official spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country’s manufacturers will cooperate with Chinese companies in the field of shipbuilding technology, with the aim of boosting Russia’s production to around 600 ship technology products by 2020. However a dissenting voice comes from Michael Voytenko, chief editor of Marine Bulletin (one of Russia’s leading marine journals). He argues that China has little experience in building modern high-tech ships, and focuses on the building of relatively cheap, low-quality vessels with the use of outdated, Soviet technologies. Chinese companies will not be able to provide any technologies for the Russian shipbuilding, he predicts. At the same time Voytenko has also criticised plans by United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russia’s monopoly, to engage in the serial production of ships instead of concentrating on the design and construction of technically sophisticated ships.