It was symbolic that Asket Shipping chose OTP Leasing as a lessor, with which NIBULON has been successfully working. NIBULON became OTP’s first client, having received financial assistance to build its first NIBULON-1 tug (POSS-115 project) eleven years ago. Today NIBULON has its own shipping company with a high-capacity fleet. The company builds and sells vessels used for various operations. Thus, the signing of the agreement to finance vessels has become an important precedent for our market, when a Ukrainian company sells its own modern vessels built from Ukrainian metal by Ukrainian shipbuilders to other Ukrainian companies to develop navigation. This step opens new opportunities for NIBULON’s partners and clients to develop an efficient logistics. Asket Shipping received two non-self-propelled NBL-90 project vessels. The vessel’s characteristics are as follows: length – 90 m, breadth – 16 m, the total capacity – 4,000 tons. The vessels are used to transport general and bulk cargoes by inland waterways all year round, thereby making them multipurpose vessels. Each cargo trip made by these non-self-propelled vessels will remove the equivalent of 350 trucks from highways. According to NIBULON’s General Director, Oleksiy Vadaturskyy,”Companies, which operate on the inland water transportation market, still buy outdated foreign vessels which are then modernized to operate on rivers. It is an important event for Ukraine when a Ukrainian company buys modern Ukrainian vessels. Asket Shipping is an example to be followed by other Ukrainian carriers. NIBULON, a patriotic company that develops Ukrainian shipbuilding, has its followers. We are sure it is just the beginning. At present the company has a wide range of modern fleet and can build specialized orders, depending on conditions and operation areas. We ask carriers that transport cargoes by inland waterways to do businesses in Ukraine and to use Ukrainian vessels of modern projects.”NIBULON’s wide opportunities enable its partners to buy not only pre-owned vessels operated on Ukrainian rivers, but also to order a new project and to build vessels used for various operations. The shipbuilding and repair yard is specialized in renovation, modernization and repair.In its 30 years of activities, NIBULON has invested USD 2.3 billion in the development of Ukraine’s economy. The company has created a modern logistics network consisting of transshipment terminals and elevator complexes in thirteen regions of Ukraine. NIBULON is a leader of the domestic shipbuilding and navigation, having built a modern fleet comprising 80 vessels used for various operations. This enables the company to achieve new record results in various activities and to remove trucks from Ukrainian highways, redirecting more cargoes to water transport. Since it commenced operations, the company has transported more than 24 million tons of various cargoes, thereby removing the equivalent of about 1 million trucks from Ukrainian highways. We are sure that Ukrainian shipbuilding and navigation have a huge potential, and these very sectors can become a driving force behind the establishment of the competitive Ukrainian economy. A modern fleet built in Ukraine will be competitive with a foreign fleet on Ukrainian waterways. We want Ukraine to have more such companies like NIBULON. We are ready to assist Ukrainian companies to open advantages of river transportation and domestic shipbuilding. Please visit NIBULON’s website to know more about cooperation and purchasing of modern vessels.Contacts:NIBULON’s shipping companysekretar-sk@nibulon.com.uaTel/fax: +38 (0512) 48 94 54NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard LLCsecretar-ssz@nibulon.com.uaTel/fax: +38 (0512) 67 57 54