JSC Chkalovsk Shipyard is a shipbuilding and ship repair company located in the town of Chkalovsk, Nizhny Novgorod Region (17 Mira Street). It was registered on February 23, 1994, and remains in operation today.[1] It is classified as a medium-sized enterprise; as of 2021, its average headcount was 99 employees.[1]

Production capabilities

The shipyard has its own production facilities: woodworking, foundry, forging, machining, hull welding, as well as electrical installation and assembly shops.[2] Its main ship-lifting facility is a transverse slipway designed for vessels up to 135 meters long, up to 26 meters wide, and with a docking weight of up to 2,500 tons.[2] Besides shipbuilding and ship repair, the company engages in mechanical engineering and provides ship-side cargo transshipment services, including for grain.[2]

According to the public procurement system, the shipyard has signed 204 contracts with a total value of 833.7 million rubles. Its authorized capital is 30 million rubles. Financial statements for 2021 recorded revenue of 276.6 million rubles (+22% over the previous year), net profit of 18.7 million rubles, and assets of 316.9 million rubles.[1] Since August 22, 2019, the general director has been Vladislav Aleksandrovich Zvonarev.[1]

Construction of the electric vessels Minin and Pozharsky

The shipyard's most high-profile project of the 2020s has been the joint construction, with the GAMA group of companies, of a new generation of electric passenger vessels. The electric ships Minin and Pozharsky continue the line of Sura-class vessels developed by the GAMA group of companies.[3][4] The first of them, Minin, was launched in November 2025; on November 6, 2026, Pozharsky was launched at the same production site. The launch of Pozharsky took place in the presence of the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Gleb Nikitin and State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Roman Chekushov; according to Nikitin, the launch of the two vessels is intended to improve transport links between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor and make the river route more attractive to tourists.[3][5] Both vessels are designed for 250 passengers, run on electric propulsion, and are equipped with a fast-charging system: 15 minutes at a shore station is enough to make up the energy used on one trip.[4] Pozharsky has a range of 6 hours at a speed of 12 km/h, and the hybrid power plant provides up to 20 hours of operation.[4] The vessels were designed with the capability for unmanned operation, should the necessary regulatory conditions be met. An autonomous control system was installed for the first time in Russian passenger shipbuilding on Minin; it was developed by the design bureau of the GAMA group of companies.[3][5]

The project was carried out under the national project "Industrial Support for Transport Mobility" with the backing of preferential leasing from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.[4] From the 2027 navigation season, Minin and Pozharsky are planned to enter regular service on the route between Nizhny Novgorod and Bor, with a travel time of 15–20 minutes.[4]

Sources

  1. checko.ru — JSC "CHKALOVSKAYA SUDOVERF" — INN 5236000402 — Director General V. A. Zvonarev
  2. chsverf.ru — Home — Chkalovsk Shipyard
  3. Business News. Time to Earn — The electric ships Minin and Pozharsky continue the line of Sura-class vessels developed by the GAMA group of companies.
  4. nobl.ru — New-generation electric river vessel Pozharsky launched in Chkalovsk — Official Website of the Government of Nizhny Novgorod Region
  5. NNTV — Electric river vessel Pozharsky launched in Chkalovsk — Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Television and Radio Company NNTV
Materials from the following articles were used (1)

Launch of the electric vessel "Pozharsky" (2026)