The Russian government is searching for investors for a new large-scale fish processing cluster, which is currently planned in the Russian Far East region, reports Eugene Gerden.
The concept of the project has been designed by scientists from the Japanese Nomura Research Institute. It is planned that the new cluster will be built in the Sukhodil Bay in the Ussuri Gulf of Sea of Japan.
This will be a single fish cluster for the entire Russian Far East region that will be comprised of fish processing and cold storage facilities.
Storage capacities of the new cluster will amount to 700 tonnes. The new cluster will also have all the required port and transport infrastructure, as well as a new logistics centre. It is planned that the volume of production on the new cluster will vary in the range of 220-550 tonnes per day.
The total volume of investment in the project is estimated at 39.2 billion rubles (US$1 billion). The majority of funds for the project will be provided by the Corporation of Development of the fishing industry of Primorye Territory, the recently established corporation which is affiliated with the Primorye government, which will fund 57% of the total costs of construction and will be an operator of the project.
According to plans of the Primorye government, the invested funds will be returned by the proceeds from the lease of established infrastructure to investors. At the same time future investors in the new cluster will receive a package of benefits from the state, and in particular a number of tax preferences.
According to Sergey Lelyukhin, President of the Far Eastern Fish Exchange, the building of the new cluster is an acute need, which should create conditions for the increase of the volume of domestic fish processing and to make the local fish market more profitable for supplies of local fisherman.
At present Russia experiences a shortage of facilities for fish processing, while the majority of the domestic fish is supplied to Chinese and South Korean markets, and re-exported to Russia in processed form.
However, according to Mr Lelyukhin, implementation of the project may face serious difficulties, as the Russian fish lobby is not interested in the development of domestic fish processing, preferring to continue exports of raw materials to Asian markets instead.
It is planned that the new cluster will be officially commissioned in 2017.
