One of the largest Russian metal producing companies Norilsk Nickel has decided to spend $80 million on the refurbishment of a submarine to transport its produce.

Should the company decided to use the customized sub to smuggle metal out of Iraq, neither the US coast guard, nor the US navy will be able to stop it. Norilsk Nickel owns plants not only in Norilsk, north Siberia, but also on the Kola Peninsula in the far north of European Russia, where the Russian navy_s Northern Fleet has its submarine base. Norilsk Nickel plans to refurbish one of these submarines for the company_s own usage. The decision was recently taken in a meeting of Norilsk Nikel_s management, the Norilskaya Gornaya Company, closely connected to the former, and representatives of the defense enterprise Sevmash. At present there are plans to refurbish only one submarine at a cost of $80 million, but if the project proves a success, one or even two other subs might follow. Norilsk Nickel must find new means of transportation, because by 2005 almost all the nuclear powered icebreakers, which at present carry the company_s produce, will be decommissioned and, according to Norilsk Nickel_s press-office, the company doesn_t have the money to build new ships of this type. It will be cheaper to rebuild military submarines no longer needed by the navy. Head of the Norilsk Nickel press-service Anatoli Komrakov told that the company intends to use the submarines for transporting nickel and copper, as well as the personal belongings of retiring company employees leaving the north territories. The submarines are expected to sail mainly from Norilsk down the river Yenisei, a route some 500 km long. There are still problems with financing, but Norilsk Nickel plans to create a joint-stock transport company with the state. If all goes to plan, the navy will give away the large Akula class submarines (the Russian equivalent of the American Typhoon subs) free of charge.