In the limelight at this year’s Seafood Expo in St. Petersburg were the innovative technologies and prosperous partnerships ushered in by Russia’s grand plan to reawaken its tremendous fishing sector.
Last month’s Seafood Expo in St. Petersburg was well attended, bringing together representatives from 38 countries as well as regions across Russia, reports the press office of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery.
One of Iceland’s leading manufacturers of fish-processing equipment, Skaginn 3X, together with the other companies comprising Knarr Maritime consortium, took part in the event with plans to expand its presence in Russia.
“We are impressed with the scale of reforms in the fishing industry in Russia,” says Skaginn 3X sales and marketing director Alda Hlín Karlsdóttir, “which is a direct result of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery’s plans to upgrade the county’s fishing fleet and carry out a broad modernization of the fisheries infrastructure.”
Karlsdóttir adds that Iceland provides a particularly useful model for the Russians, as the small fishing nation is fresh off its own technological rejuvenation. “The Icelandic fishing industry has already undergone a similar transformation, with the focus on increased efficiency across the sector as well as production quality,” she says. “As a result, Icelandic companies have managed to significantly increase their product value and have paved the way for Russian enterprises to make the same enhancements.”
Skaginn 3X has secured several contracts with leading Russian companies and continues to play an active role in upgrading their fishing fleets and onshore fish-processing infrastructure. In 2018, the company signed a contract with V.I. Lenin in the Kamchatka region to provide its state-of-the-art fish-processing equipment for a large freezer trawler, which is being built in Kaliningrad.
Skaginn 3X is also delivering two turnkey processing plants in Russia; one of them for V.I. Lenin and the other for Gidrostroy in the Kuril Islands of far east Russia.
“The Russian market has a great deal of potential for our innovative technologies due to the large-scale modernization of the fishing industry based on the investment schemes in place,” Karlsdóttir explains. “We plan to expand our presence in Russia by offering our knowledge and experience in leveraging fish-processing technologies to establish efficient, profitable and sustainable systems.”
