IVANOVO, July 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government will recommend Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin as chairman of the board of directors of the emerging United Shipbuilding Corporation, a first deputy prime minister said Friday.
"The holding is in the formative stage; it will only comprise state-run enterprises. When the board of directors is formed, the government will recommend Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin as its chairman," Sergei Ivanov said.
The announcement comes despite expectations that Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov would take the post. The Federal Property Management Agency said earlier it had nominated Serdyukov, but that "a final decision on the board chairman will be made by the Russian president, who must sign a corresponding decree."
In March 2007 President Vladimir Putin signed an array of resolutions to set up the 100% state-owned shipbuilding corporation. The conglomerate will be registered in St. Petersburg with the Nevskoye Design Bureau as anchor company, and unite shipbuilding, repair and maintenance subsidiaries in western and northern Russia, and in the country's Far East.
The corporation's contract portfolio will total $12 billion.