State to take over control of Russia's ice-breaker fleet.

MURMANSK, June 12 (Itar-Tass) -- The state is restoring control of
Russia's ice-breaker fleet the Murmansk Shipping company has operated for many years as a fiduciary. Its handover to the new operator - the federal state unitarian enterprise Atomflot is to be completed at the end of August.
"The days when the state could not afford to support this fleet, to operate it and maintain in the proper technical conditions are gone. Russia is now economically strong enough to bear the burden of spending," one of Russia's most experienced captains of the national nuclear-powered fleet, Vadim Ivanov, said.
"The shipping company is to be thanked for coping with its task 100 percent. The nuclear-powered icebreakers it has managed guaranteed reliable shipping along the Arctic Sea Route for nearly
40 years."
The Murmansk Shipping Company's general director, Alexander Medvedev, said the decision to hand the fleet over to the state-run corporation Rosatom was a decision made by the owner, so it is not to be discussed.
"For our part we shall do everything in our powers to ensure the
interests of personnel are not harmed after the transition to a new
employer," he said.