Our Arctic Neighbors: Murmansk oil company sinking into hole

A Russian state-owned oil company, Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, AMNGR, based in Murmansk, is in financial hardship and laying off workers, BarentsObserver reported Feb. 26. The company’s two jack-up rigs, Kolskaya and Murmanskaya, are both standing idle in port, leading to a loss of 83 billion rubles ($2.3 billion) in income per month.

The Kolskaya was leased by an unspecified foreign company to work in the North Sea, but by order of Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency, the contract was canceled. The rig is now at port in Murmansk. The Murmanskaya is at port in Singapore, having been leased to a Norwegian company that breached the contract before its term ended out of fear that a court would force the rig back to base in February.

In addition to the layoffs, 500 employees have been restricted to part-time work and salary arrears have increased. The workforce is in a pre-strike position, according to Murmansk TV company TV21.

AMNGR’s CEO, Oleg Mnatsakanyan, has said that the company will not go bankrupt because it is a so-called strategic federal enterprise, meaning that the Russian government will continue to back it. Local authorities will be cooperating with trade unions and the regional branch of the party United Russia to try to keep qualified personnel from leaving AMNGR.

—Sarah Hurst