Vietnam to fill Russian seafood gap
VIETNAM says it is working to increase fish exports to Russia, hoping to fill some of the gap left by the Western ban on seafood shipments following the Ukraine crisis.
The embargo has left Russia without some of its favourite fish, such as farmed Norwegian salmon and North Atlantic cod and mackerel.
As a result, fish consumption by Russians has dropped markedly. So far there is little sign of the ban being lifted, despite moves to do this by some EU countries.
Now Vietnam’s seafood exporters, says the news service VietnamBridge.net, have been stepping up supplies of pangasius to Russia since the embargo and are poised to send even more fish.
The country’s largest pangasius catfish producer, Hung Vuong, has announced it will be moving some of its operations into Russia through the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake of Russian Fish Joint Stock Company.
The move, says Hung Vuong, is aimed at gaining market share and improving levels and quality of Alaskan pollock in Russia.
A free trade agreement between Vietnam and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), that came into effect in October, is expected to assist Vietnamese companies in competing on a level playing field Market share
in the Russian market through the removal of tariffs (which are currently at 5.63 per cent) and other trade barriers.
The EAEU comprises the five countries of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Fish and seafood exports to the EAEU reached US $51.87 million for the eight months leading up to this September.
VietnamBridge says the local fish and seafood industry is now hoping to catch a large share of the Russian market over the next few years, though admittedly the challenges in accomplishing that task are daunting, it reported.