The State Duma of Russia is waiting for a decision on the second stage of fish investment quotas
Russia
Published Dec 9, 2022
Tridge summary
According to the KP, the entire fishing industry froze in anticipation - what will be the final decision of the body created to develop an agreed position of the State Duma, the Federation Council and regional authorities of the fishing regions to finalize the main provisions of the document for the second reading. And most importantly - when it will take place, because there is a week left until the second reading. The future of a strategically important industry and seven coastal regions of the country, as well as the price of fish for all Russians, depends on the results of the commission's meeting. An excursion into the history of the issue The bill on the second stage of the investment quota program assumes that 24% of pollock and herring harvested in the Far East will be given to investors who will be able to build new ships and coastal processing facilities. The project also provides that 50% of quotas for catching crabs and 100% for catching shellfish (scallop, trumpeter, sea urchin and trepang) will be put up for investment auctions.
Original content
According to the developers of the bill - officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Agency for Fishery - such measures are necessary for the development of the industry. However, the main contradiction of the document is that all these quotas will actually be taken away from the fishermen, contracts with which are valid until 2033. They have already invested in infrastructure upgrades, the purchase and re-equipment of the fleet, processing facilities, participation in the first stage of the program, and invested in social projects in the regions. Therefore, the draft law caused a reasoned protest from the regional authorities, fishermen, and even from the Accounts Chamber. Almost all those involved in the fishing industry unanimously say that if the document is adopted in the form in which it passed the first reading, industry SMEs will face bankruptcy, banks will face loan arrears, regions will face tax cuts and unemployment. For more than a year, governors, local ...
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