11 September 2023
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Russia can fully meet its citizens’ need for fish
products with its own production
“It would be rather difficult to overstate the role of the Far East in
the Russian fishing industry: 70% of the total catch comes from the Far Eastern
fishing basin, and 40% [of that amount] is exported. We understand perfectly
well that it’s easier and more profitable to do this, considering that our
domestic market is quite multifaceted and we have problems with logistics and
long distances. So our main task is to reduce costs for market participants in
order to saturate the domestic market. The average consumption [in Russia] in
recent years has been around 2.5 million tonnes per year, while we import 24%.
Given the figures that I mentioned above, we believe that we can meet all the
needs of Russian citizens for fish products through our own production,” said
Ilya Chernov, Director of the Investment Development Department of the Ministry
for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic.
“Of the 27 [fish processing] plants that were planned, 25 of them have
already been built and put into operation […] These plants produce a wide range
of products […] We need to focus on the domestic market. We can already say
today that certain plants are manufacturing final packaged products that can be
placed on a store shelf and sold,” Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for
Fisheries Khasan Likhov said.
“A perfect example of collaboration between business and the state is
the project ‘Affordable Fish of Kamchatka’, which the Kamchatka Territory
initiated jointly with major nationwide chains […] The Far East and Arctic
Development Corporation was involved in preparing this project, and we noted
one of the problems – a lack of communication between different segments of the
industry. If we can overcome this barrier, I think it will be much easier for
us to resolve problematic issues,” Ilya Chernov said.
“If we’re talking about import substitution, then let’s be consistent.
Let’s try to forget a little about the phrase ‘export revenue’ or reduce it a
little. Because Russian citizens have a priority right over the same citizens
of Japan to their product, which is found in our waters,” Chairman of the
Coordination Council of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia
Sergey Mironov said.
“There is no mechanism. Let’s come up with a mechanism together […] I
support the idea of supplying restaurateurs with fish, but I think we need to
come up with a [separate] mechanism, and then we will promote and implement
it,” Kamchatka Territory Governor Vladimir Solodov said.
SOLUTIONS
Forego purchasing
imported fish to increase its consumption within Russia and create
refrigeration facilities
“The main issue we need to focus on is increasing domestic fish
consumption […] In this regard, I would invite the entire community to join the
draft programme to increase domestic fish consumption, which we are preparing
based on instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin. I think we need to
use existing mechanisms to increase consumption that are related to
procurements in the public sector. On the whole, I believe the public sector in
Russia should not purchase imported fish. We need to boldly limit the purchase
of fish of foreign origin at kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and social
institutions,” Solodov said.
“We are in the high fishing season [intensive migration of salmon]. This
is typical for the Primorsky Territory and Kamchatka. There is a periodic
shortage of refrigeration capacity. This generally results in an abrupt
increase in the tariff for these services. Each year, we record these
complaints from users regarding this unreasonable growth. It’s generally
difficult to do anything about this, and the [Russian Federal Antimonopoly
Service] has repeatedly been involved in this work, so [there is] a proposal to
create available backup refrigeration capacity […] An additional roughly 80,000
tonnes should be sold in the Far East,” Likhov said.
“The southern waters of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands are a region with
enormous water potential and proactive investors [...] We invite any investors
who are interested, along with the Ministry for the Development of the Russian
Far East and the Federal Agency for Fisheries, to return to the discussion of
issues related to an advanced special aquaculture zone,” said Roman Vityazev, Chairman
of the Far Eastern Union of Mariculture Enterprises and Manager of the Hyperion
Group.
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