Russia diversifies sales geography of its fish products
The pandemic has changed the logistic chains and the sales geography
Pandemic related restrictions imposed by China have lead to diversification of Russian fish products’ sales geography, IAA PortNews correspondent cited Dmitry Patrushev, RF Minister of Agriculture, as saying at the Global Fishery Forum in Saint-Petersburg.
“Restrictions imposed by China have forced us search new sales markets and essential volumes were redirected to S. Korea, Japan and EU. Besides, considerable volumes of domestic ship is supplied now to Mauritania and the New Zealand. Meanwhile we continue the dialogue with our Chinese partners”, said the Minister.
At the same time, the above mentioned restrictions reflected the need to process products within Russia and stimulate the domestic market. For that purpose, a number of state support measures are foreseen.
To build up the catch, fishing companies operating in remote areas are to be provided with subsidies for the purchase of ships. The tax Code is to be amended to stimulate production of high value-added goods. To support the demand, it was decided to subsidize internal transportation of fish caught in the Far East.
Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, head of Rosrybolovstvo (Russian Federal Fisheries Agency), emphasized in his turn that fish should be processed in the area where it was caught.
“Launching of new processing plants under the investment quota programme high-speed let us offer the products in premium markets”, said Ilya Shestakov adding that the demand for long-storage products has increased over the pandemic period with the demand for fresh and cooled fish having decreased, hence the need for the development of freezing facilities and transportation in refrigerated containers.
The 4th Global Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo Russia is held in Saint-Petersburg on 8-10 September 2021.