The Russian Fishery Company has announced plans to build a pollock processing plant outside of Vladivostock, in Russia’s Far East.
The plant, with a total investment cost of USD 12 to 15 million (EUR 9.7 to 12.2 million), will have the capability of processing 60,000 metric tons (MT) of pollock annually, including 25,000 MT of value-added pollock products. RFC said in its 11 April announcement that it expects the plant to open by 2020.
"The construction of modern on-shore processing facilities will be an important step in the implementation of RFC's strategy to increase the share of high value-added products in our portfolio," RFC CEO Andrey Teterkin said. “The new factory will ensure the expansion of the company's ability to produce high-quality products from wild whitefish, including ‘ready to cook’ category, which meets the RFC’s focus on the entire value chain for the end consumers."
The construction is also part of RFC’s plan to acquire additional quota through a national program designed to encourage domestic investment. For building its new pollock plant in Nadezhdinskaya – a priority development territory – RFC will receive 14,500 MT of pollock and herring quota the factory is commissioned.
RFC previously announced plans to build an unspecified number of new processing plants, as well as seven to nine new “super trawler-processors” in Russia, which may give the company an as much as 200,000 MT of additional quota by 2023 or 2024 – the expected completion date for the company’s shipbuilding program, RFC corporate communications director Dmitry Kravchenko told SeafoodSource in March.
