Rosgeologiya reduces its maritime presence to save the budget

Rosgeologiya Holding has begun a large—scale restructuring of its offshore division, the Shelf cluster. The company decided to get rid of part of the Scientific research Vessels (NIS) in order to improve its financial situation. This step is provided for in the approved financial recovery plan and is reflected in the company&s annual report.

Causes and extent of the cuts

The management of Rosgeo has repeatedly stressed that unused vessels are becoming a burden. As of April 2025, the company owns 18 vessels, but only five are actually operating. The rest are idle due to sanctions, obsolescence of equipment and a decrease in the number of orders for offshore exploration.  The annual cost per vessel reaches 200 million rubles, and major repairs every five years cost half a billion rubles. This makes maintaining an outdated fleet economically unprofitable.

Financial optimization

In 2024, 820 million rubles were invested in the development of the Shelf cluster, of which 665 million went to repair NIS — 30% of the holding&s total capital investments. However, some of the projects have been rescheduled and optimized to reduce costs. Purchases of fuel and materials for ships were kept to a minimum. Whenever possible, repairs were carried out by own enterprises.

Market and indicators

Despite the reduction in the fleet, Rosgeologiya retains a leading position: 65% of the Russian market for marine seismic exploration and 18% for engineering surveys. The cluster completed 73 contracts in 2024, with a total revenue of 4.67 billion rubles.

The financial situation remains difficult. By the end of 2024, the loss under IFRS amounted to 8.8 billion rubles (51% more than a year earlier). According to RAS— it is minus 15.1 billion against profit in 2023. The main reasons are lower revenue, higher costs and increased debts due to the high key interest rate.

Government reaction and future plans

In October 2024, the company defaulted on 6 billion rubles worth of bonds and has faced delays in coupon payments since 2025.

To stabilize the situation, a government plan was adopted: debt refinancing, securing for Rosgeo the status of the sole operator of the state project "Geology: Rebirth of a Legend", as well as additional measures to enter the exploration drilling market, optimize costs and develop new areas of activity.

In early June, Kirill Levin, who was previously a member of the board of Rosselkhoznadzor, took over the post of CEO. The contract is designed for five years.

The restructuring of the fleet and the reduction of non—core assets are necessary steps against the background of systemic problems faced by the state geological company in recent years. Earlier, about the necessary strategic solutions for survival, in the material — Critical problems of the Russian oilfield service in 2025