The trade association representing Russian fish processors is asking to be allowed to once again import fish from some Western countries, following a four-year ban.
A letter sent by the association to the Russian Minister for Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev refers to the government’s ambitious plan to double revenue from seafood exports by the end 2024 – a goal it claims is slipping out of reach due to a lack of raw materials.
In August 2014, Russia banned the import of some categories of food from the European Union, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Norway, as part of an escalation of a trade war initiated in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The ban has been extended every year since.
In 2013, the last full pre-ban year, Russia imported more than one million metric tons of seafood. The list of exporting countries to Russia was topped by Norway, followed by Iceland, the Faroe Islands, China, Chile, and Canada. In 2014, the total fell by 12.8 percent in comparison to 2013, amounting to 884,800 metric tons (MT), with 49.4 percent of it being raw fish. In 2019, Russia imported just 700,000 MT of seafood.
The Fishery Union’s 33-member list includes such industry players as Russian Sea, Meridian, Agama, Russian Fishery Company, Dalpromryba, and Good Fish. Kommersant first reported the existence of the letter, sent by Fishery Union Chairman Evgeny Nazin to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the letter, Evgeny Nazin said Russia’s seafood processors are facing an acute shortage of raw materials, resulting in a seafood deficit of four to six million MT. The gap is so large that even the ongoing increase in domestic catch and aquaculture output registered in recent years won’t get close to covering the gap, according to Nazin.
Nazin has asked for a government decree to eliminate seafood from the larger ban on imports. The move will give the union’s processors access to raw materials, leading to an increase in supply and thus a decrease in prices, Sergey Gudkov, the executive director of the Fishery Union, told Kommersant. Gudkov said it will also result in an increase in the quality of seafood products available domestically, as currently, most higher-quality products are exported due to the instability of the market in Russia, which makes it less attractive for seafood companies to service. As a result, the Russian market is often supplied with product the country’s seafood companies are unable to export. A combination of lower-quality products, unstable supply, and high prices has resulted in seafood consumption falling by 30 percent in Russia over the past five years, the letter said.
Patrushev has not yet responded to the letter. Complicating his decision is a recent statement from Alexey Osintsev, the president of the Association of Fishery Fleet Owners, who contradicted Nazin’s claim that the Russian seafood market is out of balance.
As an example, Osintsev pointed to salmon from Norway being replaced by salmon from the Faroe Islands after the ban went into effect in 2014, Kommersant reported.
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