RF Government to consider draft law on second phase of investment quotas - VARPE
Period foreseen for implementation of investment projects has recently been extended from five to seven years
The agenda of RF Government’s meeting scheduled for 28 July 2022 includes the consideration of the draft federal law on introduction of amendments into the Federal Law on Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources. Dmitry Patrushev, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, is announced as the speaker, All-Russia Association of Fishery Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters (VARPE) says on its official Telegram channel.
VARPE says the Government will consider the second phase of the programme on granting fishing quotas in return for investments in construction of fishing ships (investment quotas programme). According to VARPE President German Zverev, “the draft law submitted for consideration despite vast criticism of ad hoc bodies and the professional community is a big mistake”. “We will do everything to convince the State Duma and the Federation Council that the government’s bill is wrong,” his statement reads.
After a period of almost 40 years when Russian shipyards built no fishing ships or crab catchers, the year of 2016 marked the beginning of orders inflow due to transition to the auction based principle of allocating quotas in the fishing industry. The reform foresees that the market players should have their ships built in the Russian Federation to obtain a quota for bioresources.
Construction of 52 fishing ships and 38 crab catchers was foreseen by the first phase of the programme (according to the data of the Ministry of Industry and Trade as of December 2021). By the end of 2021, the shipyards delivered 6 fishing and 2 crab catching ships.
Russian Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) says 97 ships are being currently built in Russia for the domestic fishery industry (58 fishing ships and 39 crab catchers).
In May 2022, RF Government published the Decree on introduction of amendments into the mechanism of allocating quotas for production of aquatic bioresources to allow extension of the construction period from five to seven years so that to ensure implementation of shipbuilding contracts under the pressure of sanctions.
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Grace time for investment quota projects >>>>
