A total of 22 companies took part in the auction, and the largest share of the available quotas was secured by OAO Turnif, a Vladivostok-based firm that is part of Russian Fish Company (RFC). OAO Turnif acquired six lots worth more than RUB 10 billion (€156.6 million), according to the information obtained by local daily Vek. The licences will be valid until the end of 2026.
In 2016, Russian industry players exported a total of 52,000 tonnes of crab with an estimated value of some $580 million (€514.7 million). Of these, about 34,200 tonnes were sold to the South Korean market, a further 9,000 tonnes to the Netherlands, some 4,000 tonnes to the Japanese market, and 2,660 tonnes to China.
The Moscow-based RFC is a leading distributor of chilled and frozen fish and seafood in the Russian market, with a product range that consists of salmon, trout, mackerel, herring, crab, prawn, squid, butter fish, sea scallop and many others. The company says it cooperates with a number of suppliers from Russia, Norway, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, as well as various countries from Asia. These include Marine Harvest, Shetland Catch and Norway Pelagic, according to data released by the Russian firm.
RFC says its warehouse network consists of 18 facilities located across Russia, some of which are used as regional hubs.
The Primorye subzone is situated within Russia’s Primorsky Krai, a region with a population of about 2 million inhabitants that borders China and North Korea, as well as the Sea of Japan.
