OAO United Shipbuilding Corp., a Russian state company, may buy 76 percent of OAO Northern Shipyard at a 15 percent discount to the initial auction price, Vedomosti said, citing an unidentified person close to the plant’s owners.

The first auction for St. Petersburg-based shipyard failed with a start price of 14 billion rubles ($443 million) for the stake, the newspaper said. The price may be cut by 15 percent for a second sale attempt, Vedomosti said.

The stake in Northern shipyard, which constructs ships for the Russian navy, was previously owned by Sergei Pugachov, a former member of Russia’s upper house of parliament. The shares were put up as collateral for a 32 billion-ruble loan from the central bank to his International Industrial Bank in 2010, the newspaper said.

Northern shipyard, Rosimushchestvo and central bank representatives declined to comment for the Vedomosti article.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anatoly Temkin in St. Petersburg at atemkin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net