Two major Russian seafood companies, Antey and the North-Western Fishery Consortium, have formed an investment partnership.
The new partnership, the Corporation Fish RF (in Russian Корпорация Рыба.РФ), where RF is an acronym of the Russian Federation, has declared its intention to tackle two ambitious projects: building fishery ports and creating a seafood exchange to facilitate exports.
Alexander Krutikov, former deputy head of the Russian Ministry for Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was appointed CEO of the new group. In an interview with Fishnews media agency, he explained that the “organization is not a classic player in the industry.” As such, it will not seek fishing quotas, as it is not going to catch fish and process it, Krutikov said. Instead, the group will work as an investment company with a team of professionals with expertise in getting low-interest funding, maximizing the use of government programs, and streamlining the management of business projects.
Krutikov said the group is open to other participants interested in investments in the fishery industry.
The first of the group’s two projects concerns a chain of fish ports in Murmansk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Vladivostok, and Sakhalin. The project aims to upgrade the ports with modern storage facilities, state-of-the-art handling equipment, and public fish markets for consumers. The chain of ports improve the implementation of railway transport to move seafood and would incorporate integration with the future use of the Northern Sea Passage.
“We are already in talks with the Russian Railways company and private rolling stock operators,” Krutikov said during the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), held in September in Vladivostok.
The joint venture's other primary initiative, Krutikov said, is a seafood exchange – to be built in Vladivostok.
“That’s a very important project to enhance state income from seafood exports and the transparency of it. But the most-important thing is that we’ve demonstrated the level of dependence of an entire industry on just one market. The exchange can be an instrument for Russia as a global seafood supplier to dictate its terms,” Krutikov said.
Krutikov said the goal is for the exchange to become a one-stop shop for Russia’s exporters, freeing them of red tape and paperwork having to do with customs, certification, and other required documentation.
To start, the exchange will experiment with trading a few selected species to see whether the system works as proposed. According to Krutikov, the tests will begin in 2024.
Government bodies welcomed the news of the new group. Russian Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov said in an interview with news agency Regnum his ministry will help with issues within the state’s area of competence – such as building energy infrastructure, dredging, and the management of berths. He also said it was possible the government could make loans at preferential terms available to participants in the projects.
Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries Head Ilya Shestakov told Regnum that the Corporation Fish.RF is an example for other private businesses to follow.
“We should not stimulate the development solely through investment quotas,” he said, referencing a government initiative that offers additional fishing quotas in exchange for domestic investment in ship-building and processing plant construction. “The example of Antey and the North-Western Fishery Consortium shows that there are projects that business is ready to invest in.”
Photo courtesy of mzabarovsky/Shutterstock
