AKVA Group Denmark A/S, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norwegian aquaculture manufacturer AKVA group ASA, has won a tender for delivery of a new smolt facility for Russian Aquaculture.
The new unit will be built in Murmansk, Russia, with completion expected in the second quarter of 2020.
AKVA said the estimated value of the contract is EUR 11.9 million (USD 13.5 million), although it is still subject to financing and regulatory approvals in Russia.
Moscow, Russia-based Russian Aquaculture, which farms Atlantic salmon in the Barents Sea in Russia’s Murmansk region and lake trout in the Republic of Karelia, has said its core strategic focus is growing its aquaculture business.
The company's revenue in 2018 was RUB 3.2 billion (USD 50.8 million, EUR 44.9 million) down 36 percent from the previous year and its operational earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 56 percent to RUB 809 million (USD 12.8 million, EUR 11.4 million). Nevertheless, its operating profit rose 13 percent to RUB 1.01 billion (USD 16 million, EUR 14.2 million), as the company saw a "significant increase" in biomass to 17,200 metric tons. Much of that stock remained in the water, however, as the company's sales by volume totaled 6,800 metric tons.
"With a decrease in sales volumes, the costs of the period in 2018 were higher, respectively, and operating profit per kilogram decreased," the company said in its year-end financial statement.
Russian Aquaculture hopes to play a major role in Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries' national goal of tripling production from aquaculture by 2030, it said in 2018.
Photo courtesy of Russian Aquaculture
