Baltiyskiy Zavod may face financial difficulties, and the shipyard's management is not sure that the company will be able to continue operating continuously. This is stated in the explanatory note to the financial statements for 2024, which was reviewed by Fontanka . The document is signed by CEO Alexander Konovalov.
Despite the record revenue of 31.4 billion rubles (in 2023 it amounted to 21 billion rubles), the net assets are negative (2.9 billion rubles) and less than the authorized capital. This situation has been maintained for more than three years. For two years in a row, the shipyard has maintained a negative balance of cash flows from current activities – 6.4 billion at the end of last year (4.3 billion in 2023). As explained in the document, this is due to the fact that the cash flow is less than the payments for current activities.
The Baltic Plant
Central Naval Portal, Sergey Severin
Despite the fact that the company made a net profit of 3.7 billion rubles in the reporting period, the net loss for the "comparable year 2023" amounted to 18.9 billion rubles, and the loss from sales for the same year resulted in 6 billion rubles. The company explains this by the high dependence of the shipbuilding industry on borrowed funds due to high costs, large purchases of marine equipment and components, as well as long production cycles of ship production.
"The high interest rate on loans, as well as unresolved pricing issues for products under the state defense order, negatively affected the financial and economic situation," the document says.
The company notes that in 2020, the company's financial recovery program was approved, and therefore its financial condition will return to normal and financial stability will increase. By the end of 2025, the company expects to receive almost 5 billion net profit.
Baltiyskiy Zavod has been under US sanctions since 2014, and the United States Treasury Department updated the sanctions package in 2022.
"The Russian economy is affected by market fluctuations and declining economic growth in other countries. Further deterioration in these areas may negatively affect the company's results and financial position. It is currently impossible to determine what this impact might be," the explanatory note to the annual report says.
The auditor of Baltiyskiy Zavod, Uralsky Soyuz Audit Firm JSC, drew attention to these circumstances in his report, noting that they indicate "significant uncertainty" in the company's ability to continue its activities continuously.
The press service of the Fontanka shipyard commented that the audit company's report does not reflect the full economic condition of the enterprise. They noted that a series of universal nuclear icebreakers of project 22220, as well as a nuclear technological maintenance vessel, are currently being built at the Baltic Shipyard.
"The plant is loaded with orders until 2031, and in the future – until 2035. This indicates the stable financial and economic condition of the enterprise both today and in the coming years," the press service noted.
Earlier, operatives of the economic police, together with UK investigators, calculated the damage from bribes that were allegedly taken at the Baltic Shipyard in exchange for increased salaries and patronage of the management. As it became known to Fontanka, we are talking about an amount in excess of 15 million rubles. Searches at the places of residence of the defendants took place in the early morning on Tuesday, March 11. Documents were also seized at the Baltic Plant itself. At least seven detainees are known, and a criminal case has been opened on receiving bribes.
