On March 28, as part of an extended meeting of the board of the Russian Ministry of Transport, an award ceremony was held for representatives of the transport industry who have demonstrated high performance results. State awards were presented to outstanding employees by Roman Starovoit, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.

Among the awardees is Artem Kurochkin, Deputy Director for Operations of the FSUE "Rosmorport" Astrakhan Branch, who was awarded the Petr Gubonin Medal for labor achievements and conscientious work in transport.

Artem Kurochkin joined FSUE "Rosmorport" in 2019. His professional journey, which began in 2011 with an internship, led him to the position of captain of the General Chernyakhovsky ferry, one of two innovative dual-fuel ferries providing transport accessibility to the Kaliningrad region. Prior to that, he held the positions of assistant captain on the Yuri Lisyansky and Moskva icebreakers and senior assistant captain on the Novorossiysk icebreaker.

Artem Kurochkin's responsibility, initiative, communication skills and high professionalism allowed him to make a significant personal contribution to the quality control of construction and acceptance of both automobile-railroad ferries.

In August 2021, Artem Kurochkin was sent to the shipyard to accept the Marshal Rokossovsky new generation ferry. After acceptance of the vessel and its commissioning he worked as a senior assistant captain, providing cargo transportation on the strategically important line "Seaport of Ust-Luga – Seaport of Kaliningrad".

In April 2022, he participated in the acceptance of the General Chernyakhovsky ferry.  After it’s commissioning he continued to work on the ferry as a senior assistant captain. During the acceptance of the vessel he acted as a captain for a long time, organizing the quality work of the subordinate crew. Having established himself as a professional vessel driver who knows and loves his profession, he became a ferry captain in 2023.

Currently, as Deputy Director for Operations at the FSUE "Rosmorport" Astrakhan Branch, Artem Kurochkin is responsible for ensuring uninterrupted operation of the fleet, including dredging equipment on the Volga-Caspian Sea Shipping Canal (VCSSC), vessel maintenance and organization of repair work, making a significant contribution to maintaining navigational depths and safety of navigation.