Russian vessels landed fish worth €175 million in 2022
The EU has not sanctioned cod and pollock from Russia and Norway keeps open three ports for fish deliveries, crew change, supply and repair.
A total of 110,000 tons of fish at a value of 1,88 billion Norwegian kroner (€175 million) were landed last year by Russian fishing vessels, the business online E24 reports.
That is up 42 percent compared with 2021. The majority of the landings, worth 1,7 billion kroner, took place after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in late February.
Ukraine’s Embassy in Oslo has called on Norwegian authorities to explain why Russian fishermen are still allowed to sell seafood at ports in Norway, E24 reported.
The three ports of Kirkenes, Tromsø and Båtsfjord are still open and on an average day in January, about 20 Russian fishing vessels stayed at port in Kirkenes.
One of the companies whose vessels are frequently seen in northern Norway is Norebo, a company that according to Dagens Næringsliv has supported the Putin-designed political party United Russia with funding.
CEO and co-founder of Norebo Holding, the largest seafood company in Russia, is Vitaly Orlov. According to Forbes, Orlov has a net fortune of $1,6 billion and is one of Russia’s richest oligarchs.
In July last year, Vladimir Putin attended online in the flag-raising ceremony for three new large fishing vessels built at the United Shipbuilding Corporation’s shipyard in St. Petersburg. This is the same yard that builds the new Gorhkov-class navy frigates. One of the new fishing vessels was “Kapitan Sokolov”, owned by Vitaly Orlov’s Norebo.
The 15 companies in the Norebo Holding catches some 400,000 tons of cod, haddock and pollock annually in the Barents Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Pacific Far East of Russia.
