The vessel was launched without stopping the working process as according to the shipyard’s director Dmytro Horbenko, the shipbuilders are busy constructing a high-capacity self-propelled dredger. It will be launched at the end of this week.
Halyna Tkachenko, who has been working at NIBULON’s shipyard from the very first days, became a godmother of the B2000 project vessel. The woman devoted 40 years of her life to shipbuilding. From 1947 she was an employee of Shipyard named after 61 Communards, later she worked at Lyman shipyard, and since 2013 she has been working at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard.
Our company has a clear strategy to revive Ukrainian rivers as transport waterways. It has positive feedback and is supported by both international community and Ukrainian specialists. Despite the fact that the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine headed by Volodymyr Omelian hinders the activities of our company in every possible way and therefore hinders the revival of inland waterways of Ukraine and shipbuilding, NIBULON invests a lot of money with the support of the EIB, EBRD and IFC in the development of Ukrainian shipbuilding and infrastructure.
Although Volodymyr Omelian acts on the principle “I will not be led by the nose by NIBULON”, we are the company whose activity is aimed at developing the country’s economy and adhere to the position of “Equal rights to perform river transportation that will contribute to receipt of investments in development of inland waterways of Ukraine”. We don’t want the Ukrainian flag to be excluded from Ukrainian rivers; we are for the development of Ukrainian shipbuilding. We are for equal rights but we do not want Ukrainian rivers to be used by the companies that have brought out Ukrainian fleet to offshore zones. We do not struggle for preferences for the company but we are for the introduction of the world experience in the development of inland waterways of Ukraine.
We are against the river due which has no analogue in the world and which is actively promoted by Volodymyr Omelian and Co; we are against lockage, payment for raise of drawbridges and other groundless dues. We support the idea of rivers free of dues.  Only under such conditions we can develop both freight and passenger shipping and economy in Ukraine. We are not alone: the agrarian sector and industry of Ukraine support us. So listen to the Ukrainian company that invests in Ukraine’s economy. We have been leaders and we will be leaders under any circumstances because we are patriots.
From the beginning of operation (2013) our shipbuilding and repair yard has implemented a program for the construction of 4 non-self-propelled NBL-91 project vessels (4,500 tons); they transport cargoes from the central part of the Dnipro River to the river mouth.  We have already built non-self-propelled B2000 project vessels designed for operation on the Southern Buh River. We do the work for the long run, so these vessels are capable of operating on the upper part of the Dnipro River, on the Desna River, the Prypiat River, to the Baltic Sea, if the E-40 waterway is revived.  The company’s goal is to transport 4 million tons per year along the inland waterways of Ukraine: 3 million tons along the Dnipro River and 1 million tons along the Southern Buh River.
In addition, there was built a series of POSS-115 tugs of 2 500 hp at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard; they can push 4 non-self-propelled vessels of 4,500 tons. We have already built a series of 121 and 121M tugs that can operate with 2 non-self-propelled B2000 project vessels and transport 4 thousand tons per one cargo trip, which is equal to more than 160 trucks.
However, NIBULON will not stop at what has been accomplished. Thanks to modernization of the shipyard and cooperation with the European Investment Bank, NIBULON will be capable of constructing up to 15 units of cargo fleet per year and will increase it to 100 units in the coming years.  The next step is construction of another series of non-self-propelled vessels with cargo capacity of 5 thousand tons each; they will operate on the lower part of the Dnipro River, to the Black Sea. NIBULON’s shipbuilders have started to build a high-capacity floating crane. We have already ordered the projects of multipurpose seagoing tugs of 3 500 hp and they are being designed; it is planned to construct them in 2018/2019.
This month we also launch the high-capacity self-propelled SDS-15 project dredger which will be capable of dredging the Dnipro River even if the head of the MIU is against it. However, we hope that the funds will be allocated not only for the dredging of the waters of ports of Big Odesa but for the Dnipro River dredging. We will be able to participate in a tender with international companies; in case of victory, we can perform dredging or perform dredging operations at our own expense.  Thus, we will show who is just promoting oneself and who is developing inland waterways of Ukraine.
It should be noted that we plan to carry out an experiment with crush of rocks on the Dnipro River in October. We reported on this to Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroisman. It will be a kind of response to those who claim that nothing is being done in Ukraine to revive shipping. Everything is being done. You should notice it. Someone considers that the first vessel carrying Kherson watermelons to Kyiv was a trifle.  But we should draw your attention to the fact that to this end it was necessary to construct two facilities, having invested about USD 40 million in them and employed 1,500 workers at each construction site, to construct vessels. But someone does not want to notice this.
By the way, during the recent visit of Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroisman to NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard we familiarized him with our program and drew his attention to the problems in the industry. We have demonstrated what must be done to ensure that the inland waterways are the pride of Ukraine.  We experience his support of our activity and our ideas; this inspires us to take new actions to revive the waterways.
We assure you that not only one vessel will carry watermelons or other fruit and vegetables to Kyiv and even to Belarus. We will work out a lot of variants of transporting other cargoes along the Dnipro River. It should be noted that from the beginning of this year’s navigation NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard has transported more than 870 thousand tons of agricultural commodities along the Dnipro River and the Southern Buh River. Thus, the number of trucks on the highways decreased by more than 36.3 thousand units.