Russian pollock producer invests $30 million in new processing plants
The two plants, located in the far eastern Kuril islands, were built as part of the state investment quota program.
Gidrostroy, one of Russia’s largest pollock producers, has completed a RUB 3.2 billion (€29 million/$30 million) investment in the construction of two processing plants in the far eastern Kuril islands chain, according to the country’s federal fisheries agency.
The two plants, constructed last year as part of Russia's state investment quota program, are intended to produce at least 100 tons of fillets and minced pollock daily, along with a minimum of 20 tons of fishmeal and fish oil derived from waste, according to a statement from Russian fisheries agency Rosrybolovstvo on Jan. 6.
Both plants are located in the Kuril islands, a volcanic archipelago to the north of Japan that forms part of the Russian province of Sakhalin. The chain’s southernmost islands, including Iturup and Shikotan, where the processing plants are located, are subject to a long-running territorial dispute with Japan.
Rosrybolovstvo said in the statement that, in total, 27 state-of-the-art processing factories have been built in Russia under the investment quota program, through which fishing quotas are awarded in return for commitments to invest in processing capacity or new vessels.