Arnold Ivanov, CEO of Industrial and Ecological Alliance (IEA), said his operation has signed a preliminary agreement with Russian yard Krasnoye Sormovo for 20 ships.

These are split between river-sea tankers of up to 8,000 dwt and bulkers of up to 7,000 dwt.

"We plan to build about 30 ships within our project on restoration of river navigation between Baltic, Caspian and Azov seas with the cost of $833m (including $540m for the fleet building)," he told the Fineko news agency.

Construction