Russia has a rich centuries-old tradition of naval and civilian shipbuilding. Upon the end of the ideological confrontation, the competition of the main sea-faring nations of the world took on the new and at the same time - more traditional form for the market economy. The global economic crisis and the decrease of the freight traffic, including the sea freight, led to the exacerbation of the competitive struggle in this market. Whereas the Naval Engineering and Armament (NEA) in Russia are at a very high level, which is proved by the position Russia holds within the global markets of this kind of production, the civilian shipbuilding is not only unable to compete in the global market, but even barely present on the domestic one. The future of the civilian shipbuilding is in such promising niches as the development of the equipment for the exploration of the Arctic oil fields, the iceboats for the maintenance of the Northern Sea Route, and the sea-and river-going vessels for the domestic operations. In this article, the authors analyse the current state policy in regards of both civilian and naval shipbuilding, the position of Russia in the global market of the NEA, assess the current state of this industry and the competitive potential of the Russian Federation, reveal the problems and consider the prospects for the development. The analysis is based on the rich factual material and the available statistical data. The careful study and its results allowed the authors to come to the certain conclusions and to provide advice for the improvement of the state policy in regards to the shipbuilding.