Kommersant: the program for the export of 20 thousand tons of pollock from the Far East has failed in the central regions of Russia actually failed. The total volume of submitted applications was five times lower than planned – four thousand tons (12 applications) instead of 20 thousand. Kommersant writes about this with reference to the data announced during the meeting at the Federal Agency for Fishery.
The department suggested that such a low demand for support is due to a lack of time. The mechanism for issuing subsidies has been operational since mid-October, and the shippers have not figured it out yet. The meeting itself was held on November 18.
However, the manager of the Dobroflot Group of Companies Alexander Efremov explained that his company would not use the subsidy due to the insignificance of funds and too many documents that need to be collected. At the same time, some of the documents, in his opinion, are redundant, since they have already been included in the Mercury system of the Rosselkhoznadzor.
Andrey Grechkin, a board member of the Association of Food Sector Organizations, agreed that traders often cannot collect the required amount of securities, and also drew attention to the lack of information among industrialists about the procedure.
German Zverev, President of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries the use of subsidies will not lead to a simplification of conditions, but to the abandonment of the program in 2022. In his opinion, such a decision will provoke the failure of the industry in the first quarter. A source in the market confirmed the threat – despite the formal extension of the program until the end of next year, funds may simply not be allocated for it after an analysis of the effectiveness.
The problem with the export of pollock arose a year ago due to China's refusal to accept fish after it was identified traces of coronavirus in a number of batches. Because of this, there was a shortage of fish storage capacities in the Far East. In addition to subsidies, officials agreed with the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) on the purchase of 53.3 thousand tons of pollock in 2021 and 2022.