At the end of the 1990s, Pugachev started to acquire shares in shipbuilding and engineering businesses in St. Petersburg, including Severnaya Verf Shipbuilding plant JSC, the Baltiyskiy Zavod JSC and the Iceberg Central Design Bureau. Pugachev was a major shareholder in Baltiyskiy Zavod. Baltiyskiy Zavod was part of the Pugachev-controlled United Industrial Corporation (OPK). Pugachev transferred the main capacity to the Severnaya Verf site and started implementation of the largest development project in St. Petersburg with development of 70 hectares in the centre of the city on Vasilevsky Island.