A press conference was held in St Petersburg on April 25, 2019. The press conference took place in the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS)” and was devoted to the VI Festival of Icebreakers, which will be held on the English Embankment and the Lieutenant Schmidt May 4-5.

The press conference involved head of a group of instructors of the FSUE “Rosmorport” North-Western Basin Branch Georgy Melnik, chairman of the Committee for the Development of Tourism in St Petersburg Yevgeny Pankevich, director of St Petersburg State Autonomous Vocational Education Institution “Admiral Senyavin Maritime Technical College” Viktor Nikitin, executive director of the Association “Maritime Heritage” Alexander Uradov, chairman of the Russian Creative Union of Culture Workers Anatoly Konstantinov, chief specialist for relations with the public opinion of the branch of the Museum of the World Ocean in St Petersburg Maria Melnikova and other officials.

Opening the press conference Yevgeny Pankevich thanked all participants for organizing the festival and the enthusiasm in its holding. He noted the importance and the unique nature of the festival. He invited the summiteers to visit the icebreakers. In 2018 the Festival of Icebreakers was attended by about 500,000 participants. This year it is expected that the record number of guests will take part in the summit.

Georgy Melnik spoke about the importance of the icebreaker fleet for Russia’s freezing seaports, particularly for the seaports of the Gulf of Finland, and its invaluable contribution to the development of the Arctic region. He also briefed on the icebreakers’ key particulars and pointed in detail on the unique specifications of the icebreakers – the Kapitan Sorokin and the Mudyug. Georgy Melnkik told the summiteers on the St Petersburg icebreaker a possibility to use it in rescue and environmental operations. He noted the importance of the construction of new icebreakers such as the Viktor Chernomydrin icebreaker currently under construction at the Admiralty Shipyards, JSC.

The summiteers discussed a draft program of the festival. The forum will be opened at 1:00 p.m. on May 4. The expositions of maritime museums, children’s entertainment programs, lecture courses and film shows will be organizers for the visitors. A waltz of tugs will be held in the water area of Bolshaya Neva at 2:00 p.m. May 5 and then the icebreakers will leave the English Embankment and the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment for the seaport of Big Port St Petersburg.