RFC and ar East and Arctic Development Corporation sign agreement for building transport refrigerators

Olga Naumova, CEO of the Russian Fishery Company, and Kirill Kamenev, Deputy CEO for Investment at the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, signed a contract to build three transport refrigerators in the Far East over the next five years, creating 300 new jobs.

"Russian fishing industry needs transport refrigerators to maintain proper quality of fish products. The vessels currently operating in the Far East basin are on average 30 years old, and many no longer meet the standards required to service the fishing fleet. The new super trawlers built for RFC present new challenges: high-tech transportation fleet capacities are needed for efficient transportation of finished products. Investing in refrigerated vessels will allow us to manage the entire production chain: from catch to delivery to customers, ensuring good product quality and safety at every stage of the production cycle, while preserving the unique nutritional properties of wild white fish," said Olga Naumova, CEO of RFC.

Kirill Kamenev, Deputy CEO for Investment at the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, highlighted that modernizing the industry fleet and building it is a crucial task that businesses can undertake with government support.

"Besides maintaining quality, refrigerated vessels will help stabilize fish product prices by reducing delivery costs incurred by the fishing industry when using other types of vessels. Building a new fleet is always a capital-intensive project, hence businesses pay close attention to government support measures. RFC is well-versed with these tools, having successfully implemented several projects in the advanced development territories and the free port of Vladivostok. The free port mechanism, under which the investor plans to build refrigerated vessels, offers insurance premiums reduced to 7.6% for a decade, zero property, profit, and land taxes for the initial five years, among other benefits. This will aid in alleviating the financial and regulatory pressure on fishermen," Mr Kamenev said.

Plans to build the refrigerators for RFC are an extension of the strategy aimed at modernizing the national fleet. Ten ST-192 design vessels are currently built at the Admiralty Shipyards as part of the government initiative to revamp the national fishing fleet and enhance the efficient utilization of valuable national bioresources. Kapitan Vdovichenko and Mekhanik Maslak super trawlers are already operating successfully in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, while Mekhanik Sizov is set to commence fishing trials in September.