Saudi Sakani Delivers Homes to Over 130,000 Families in 9 Months

Saudi Arabia continues to increase the homeownership rate through Sakani (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia continues to increase the homeownership rate through Sakani (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Sakani Delivers Homes to Over 130,000 Families in 9 Months

Saudi Arabia continues to increase the homeownership rate through Sakani (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia continues to increase the homeownership rate through Sakani (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Sakani, a Saudi program concerned with housing, has said that 130,400 Saudi families owned their first homes during the first nine months of 2022.

Sakani indicated that it comes within the framework of the program's endeavor to support beneficiaries to achieve the objectives of the housing program and increase the percentage of home ownership to 70 percent by 2030.

It explained that 12.1 thousand families benefited from the options and solutions it provided last September, while 12.9 thousand families received their first home in the same month.

Sakani offers nine new optional support programs within its solutions to Saudi families. The new packages included: the provided support package, the rental package, the furniture package, the self-construction package, and the housing renewal package.

The packages provide the beneficiary multiple flexible solutions by delivering immediate, non-refundable support to beneficiaries of ready-made, under-construction, and self-construction housing units in partnership with The Real Estate Development Fund and financing agencies and real estate developers.

The agency's website and application provide residential facilities and services, which include the real estate advisor, issuance of real estate tax certificates for the first house, obtaining a quotation from financing agencies, issuing e-land contracts, benefiting from the engineering designs service, the e-financing service, and the real estate market.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced that digital transformation directly impacted various aspects and saved over $4.5 billion annually.

The Ministry announced that it succeeded in curbing forgery and manipulations, saving time and effort for beneficiaries on a social level.

The statement noted that, environmentally, 35,000 trees were preserved with 559 million leaves. Carbon emissions were also reduced by 500 million kilograms between 2018 and 2020, and more than 5.1 trillion gallons of water were saved during the same period.

The Ministry also presented many technical and digital achievements during the GITEX Technology Week 2022 in Dubai, which contributed to raising the quality of life for citizens, residents, and visitors to the Kingdom.



Russia’s First Ice-Class LNG Carrier Enters Sea Trials, Data Shows

A concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) of Arctic LNG 2 joint venture is seen under construction in a dry dock of the LNG Construction center near the settlement of Belokamenka, Murmansk region, Russia July 26, 2022. (Reuters)
A concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) of Arctic LNG 2 joint venture is seen under construction in a dry dock of the LNG Construction center near the settlement of Belokamenka, Murmansk region, Russia July 26, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russia’s First Ice-Class LNG Carrier Enters Sea Trials, Data Shows

A concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) of Arctic LNG 2 joint venture is seen under construction in a dry dock of the LNG Construction center near the settlement of Belokamenka, Murmansk region, Russia July 26, 2022. (Reuters)
A concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) of Arctic LNG 2 joint venture is seen under construction in a dry dock of the LNG Construction center near the settlement of Belokamenka, Murmansk region, Russia July 26, 2022. (Reuters)

The first Russian-built ice-class liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier has entered sea trials, LSEG data showed on Friday, as part of Russia's efforts to raise global LNG market share despite US sanctions.

The tanker, named Alexey Kosygin after a Soviet statesman, was built at the Zvezda shipyard and is due to join the fleet of vessels for Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 plant, which has been delayed because of the US sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.

The US Treasury has also placed sanctions on the new vessel, which Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot ordered to be built at Zvezda, Russia's most advanced shipbuilding yard. LSEG ship-tracking data shows it is anchored near the Pacific port of Vladivostok.

Sovcomflot has not replied to a request for comment.

Novatek, which owns 60% of Arctic LNG 2, has said 15 Arc7 ice-class tankers that are able to cut through two meter (6.5 ft) thick ice to transport LNG from Arctic projects, will be built at Zvezda shipyard.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Novatek shut down commercial operations at the first and only operational train of its Arctic LNG 2 project in October with no plans to restart it during winter.

Ice-class tankers usually have double hulls - strengthened structures to withstand the pressure of ice - and reinforced propellers.

So far, only three suitable gas tankers have been built for Arctic LNG 2, according to public information: the Alexey Kosygin, Pyotr Stolypin and Sergei Witte vessels.

Six more Arc7 tankers were due to be built by Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, including three for Sovcomflot and three for Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

However, the three tankers ordered by Sovcomflot were cancelled due to the sanctions against Russia, Hanwha said last year in regulatory filings.