Dear colleagues!

My name is Vladimir Ilyich Shtrambrand.

Before addressing you, I would like to say a few words about myself.

I have devoted my whole life to naval service: first, I studied at a naval school, then I served on nuclear submarines, and after 29 years of service in the Navy, I have been working in the system of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation for more than 26 years: first in the Maritime Administration of the seaport of Murmansk, then - for more than 17 years now - at FSUE "Rosmorport".

While working at FSUE "Rosmorport", my colleagues and me had to organize and be responsible for the operation, repair, development and construction of vessels, and I do know how difficult and important this work is. Moreover, I am glad that I had chance to participate in the development of the initial requirements and technical tasks for the design and construction of the first Russian diesel-electric icebreakers, the first icebreakers built in the post-Soviet period after an almost 25-year break in the construction of such vessels.

Besides, together with design bureaus and shipyards, I had the opportunity to participate on the customer's part in projects development and construction support for other new diesel-electric icebreakers, to take part in testing and accepting of these vessels from the shipyards. I also participated on behalf of the customer in the preparation and construction of many other types of vessels built for our enterprise (I’m not sure about the exact number, but I think that over the years about one hundred vessels were built, reconstructed and acquired for the enterprise, many of them being built according to new modern projects).

To be honest, we had to solve many problems from scratch, I had to study, and specialists from the department which I headed also had to study together with design bureaus and shipyard specialists.

I must note that unlike 20-25 years ago when the shutdown of many shipyards, vessels repair plants and other enterprises, sea and river ports due to the lack of orders and, accordingly, cargo was the main problem for customers, now, in my opinion, the situation has dramatically changed. There is a tense competition for the placement of shipbuilding orders at domestic shipyards due to the significant increase in number of shipbuilding orders and the use of production capacities of shipyards with increased load. Besides, cargo flows in seaports and estuary ports require more new capacities in order to ensure the transshipment of increasing cargo volumes.

As a person who gave 33 years of his life to service and work in the North, who, together with professionals who worked in the Maritime Administration of the seaport of Murmansk and in the JSC "Murmansk Commercial Seaport", made a small contribution to the development of the seaport of Murmansk in the late 90s - early 2000s, as a specialist who participated in the ice tests of Russian diesel-electric icebreakers, new projects in the Arctic Seas, I can honestly say that I’m happy to see the high pace of the development of the Northern Sea Route, as well as seaports and water areas in this region.

I am sure that it is not just the implementation of complex transport programs and projects, it is a unique chance for the development of huge and very significant territories and water areas for our country, it is a real creation of jobs and better conditions for people who live here.

I’m saying all this not because I want to impress you by describing how I participate in important and significant matters, but to show that I am not from the category of so-called "effective managers" (as ones call ironically some not fully competent managers or managers out of their places).

I am not an outsider, I am one of us, a man of the sea, one of many specialists in the maritime industry, who loves it and worries for its future.

I do not want to teach anyone or, as some say, to be a tutor "as far as I have great personal experience", I just want this vector, the vector of development, growth, renewal of our fleet and transport industry, to be preserved.

Let me appeal to you with my request and proposal to participate in the election. You have the right to vote, so use it!

I'm sure it all depends on you.