Russian Government to crackdown on implicit subsidiaries of Pacific Andes to buy back pollock quotas

Russia's Government will crackdown on implicit subsidiaries of Pacific Andes to buy back pollock quotas, reports http://www.megafishnet.com/ with reference to PR head of Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency Alexander Saveljev quoted by Rybatskaya Gazeta.

According to FISHNET analysis of customs declarations, in January 2012 Qingdao Pacific Andes International Trading Co., Ltd has become the leading importer of Russian seafood with the result of 15,400 MT at statistical value of USD 12.7 million out of a total of 176 foreign suppliers.

In February 2012 Pacific Andes published a report saying that the holding controls 60% of Russian pollock catch. Besides, it announced that it had own affiliates practically in all big cities of the Russian Far East, namely in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

In this connection Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency has sent a letter to the company with a request to name addresses and persons in such affiliates in Russia in general and in the Far East Basin, in particular. The answer has not been received yet, said Alexander Saveljev. Therefore, supervisory bodies are conducting an investigation aimed at finding out which Russian companies are affiliated to the Chinese holding and at what extent. If foreign capital, Pacific Andes in particular, is established as main investors in authorized capital stock of Russian fishing companies, the latter will not get quotas for pollock fishery in the Russian EEZ as the Russian legislation prohibits fishing operations of foreign companies in the nation's EEZ.

According to Russia's fishery industry head Andrey Krainy, the nation's Government is going to limit activity of foreign investors on the domestic fish market by means of redemption of shares of Russian fishing companies owned by foreign citizens.

Foreign owners will have to sell their shares in Russian fishing companies due to inability to get access to capture quotas.