A gift for the President

Pugachov's dockyard has finished the reconsruction of the president's ship
The renewed presidential motor ship “Rossiya” was launched in Saint Petersburg. The ship was built in 1973 on demand of Leonid Brezhnev and was used by Boris Yeltsin over the 90s; in 2000 she was inherited by the president Putin.

The ship was reconstructed in the repair haven “Severnaya Verf” (“Northern Dockyard”). This enterprise belongs to the senator Sergei Pugachov, the founder of Mejprombank Banc and reportedly one of the Putin's cronies.

On the occasion of Rossiya's launch the dockyard was visited by the whole beaumonde of the northern capital. Matviyenko, Klebanov, the representatives of the local authorities and the presidential administration, headed by the president's business-manager, Vladimir Kozhin. The owners of the dockyard were represented by Alexander Gnusarev, the general director of the United Industrial Corporation (he is in charge of the bank's assets, including “Severnaya Verf”).

The guests were satisfied with the results of the reconstruction; “Severnaya Verf” didn't spare money on it. Sergei Pugachov is said to have supervised works personally. The ship has got the brand-new equipment, her moving charachteristics has much improved. And if the latter is yet to be tested in practice, the ship's interior finish has already impressed the visitors with its splendor.

“Rossiya” will return to the presidential flotilla in the nearest future. It contains also the motor yacht “Pallada” and the speed-boat “Burevestnik” (“The Petrel”), which was launched during the 300th anniversary of Sain-Petersburg, in 2003.

The leaders of our country had and have a whole flotilla of yachts. But they are not the private property of the presidents. The yachts “Kavkaz” and “Krym”, 45 meters long, built in 1980 on the demand of L. Brezhnev, look like twins. One was anchored in Pitsunda (Abkhazia), another in Yalta (Crimea). They were divided in two decks: the lower one served for the crew and didn’t have a passage to the upper deck, which was used by the head of state. The upper deck consists of a bow salon, a verandah, a hall with winding stairs, rooms for negotiations and two office cabins. Brezhnev didn’t have a chance to use these yachts, Gorbachev did. After the disintegration of the USSR, “Krym” (“Crimea”) became the property of Ukraine, “Kavkaz” (“Cacasus”) is now the yacht of the Russian president. It’s harbored in Sochi.