On May 25, 2018 Sberbank and the Rosatom State Corporation signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop Russia’s Arctic fleet.

The agreement was inked by Sberbank’s first deputy chairman of the executive board Maxim Poletaev and first deputy director general for corporate development and international business at Rosatom Kirill Komarov at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The objectives of the entities’ joint work include the development of the Arctic fleet, safe navigation in the Northeast Passage, the development of Arctic seaports, as well as assistance to oil, gas, and other mineral producers in the Arctic. As part of the cooperation, Sberbank intends to undertake financing the construction of a new icebreaker fleet, as well as the infrastructure for the fleet’s uninterrupted operation to ensure all-season navigation through the Northeast Passage.

Rosatom’s projects on creating the icebreaker fleet entail the company’s resorting to the use of various financial instruments, including leasing, lending, and bank guarantees. Beyond participating in structuring the financial component of the projects, Sberbank will also offer Rosatom the most efficient borrowing tools to realize the new construction.

State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom is one of the largest Russian companies. It was founded in 2007 to unite atomic energy assets, including entities specializing in designing and constructing atomic power stations, as well as power engineering assets. The company is the largest Russian generation company. Rosatom consists of more than 300 enterprises and organizations, including the world’s only atomic icebreaker fleet.