OREANDA-NEWS  Fishermen have asked for new subsidies for the transportation of pollock from the Far East to the central regions of Russia, since the annual limits on them have already been exhausted, and if there is no help, prices will rise. This is with reference to the letter of the head of the Association of Pollock Miners (ADM) Alexey Buglak to Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko writes Kommersant.

The subsidy program for pollock ice cream was launched back in 2021 due to problems with exports to China, which was due to pandemic restrictions. Currently, transportation costs 20 rubles per kilogram of fish, which is 20-25 percent of the final price. The subsidy allows you to reduce the cost by six rubles.

During the first quarter of the year, 71 thousand tons of pollock were delivered to the market, that is, more than a third of the potential for the year (200 thousand tons). However, starting from mid-summer, tariffs for transportation in refrigerated containers will increase by 15-30 percent, which is associated with the beginning of the salmon harvest, so the issue of subsidies will become especially important.

The President of the All-Russian Association of Fishermen (VARPE), German Zverev, pointed out that the funds allocated to help fishermen ended in mid-April. In order to deliver an additional 70 thousand tons of products by the end of the year, according to his calculations, about 500 million rubles are still needed. In the meantime, the fishermen themselves finance the delivery. However, the manager of the Dobroflot Group, Alexander Efremov, noted that if there is no money, then prices will have to be raised. This will affect demand, which means that fish will have to be exported.