Co-owners of Antey Group of Companies entered into the capital of the Khabarovsk fish factory

Assets in the field of catching and processing red fish remain of interest to investors. The co-owners of the large crab catcher GK Antey became co-founders of the Eastern Fish Processing Plant (VRK) in the Khabarovsk Territory, capable of producing up to 500 tons of products per day. The heirs of the former owner of the VRK intend to challenge the deal, but it will not be easy, lawyers say.

Co-owners of the structures of the Antey fishing group Ivan Mikhnov and Arkady Pinchevsky in July received 25% each of VRK LLC, which is engaged in the extraction and processing of salmon in the Khabarovsk Territory, follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The remaining 50% from June belongs to the company itself. The Antey Group of Companies did not promptly respond to Kommersant.

VRK operates a plant with a capacity of up to 500 tons of products per day. For 2016, it was the largest fish processing complex in the region, Rosrybolovstvo reported. As follows from the materials of the Amur department of the agency, VRK also owns the rights to catch char, pink salmon and chum salmon in areas in Sakhalin Bay. Previously, Alexander Bronnikov, who died in the fall of 2022, and Denis Dyadinkin each owned 50% of the VRK, follows from SPARK. The latter could not be contacted.

Antey Group, according to its own data, owns quotas for catching more than 39% of crabs in the North and 12.5% ​​in the Far East, the production volume in 2022 is 18.4 thousand tons. He also annually catches about 20 thousand tons of fish, grows scallops, oysters, mussels, etc. Arkady Pinchevsky previously headed the board of directors of the Moscow vodka plant Kristall, and in 2005-2007 he was vice-governor of the Sakhalin region.

The change of co-owners of the VRC is accompanied by a trial with the probable heirs of Mr. Bronnikov. In August, the Arbitration Court of the Khabarovsk Territory accepted for consideration the claim of Eleonora Bronnikova against the VRK and the founders of the company to invalidate the refusal to issue consent to the transfer of the share, transfer the rights and obligations of the buyer under the sale and purchase agreements to it and cancel the last entries in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 18.

Artem Denisov, managing partner of Genesis law firm, says that disputes between the heirs of a company member and other founders due to the transfer of shares are quite common. But to meet such requirements, serious legal grounds are needed, adds Maria Lyubimova, partner at the Regionservis bar association. It was not possible to contact Ms. Bronnikova.

In 2022, sales of red fish in Russia decreased by 22%, to 118 thousand tons, the market turnover remained at the level of 70 billion rubles, according to the statements of the salmon and trout producer Inarctic. The decrease in sales in physical terms is associated with a decrease in imports due to complications in supplies from Chile and the Faroe Islands after the tightening of Western sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with military operations in Ukraine. Due to a decrease in supply, the average cost of salmon in 2022 grew by 25% year-on-year, according to the National Rating Agency.

This year, salmon prices on the domestic market are influenced by a successful fishing season. By September 5, according to Rosrybolovstvo, more than 572 thousand tons of Pacific salmon were caught, and by the end of the season, the catch could approach 600 thousand tons, which would be the second result since 2018. At the end of August, the Fishing Union reports with reference to the monitoring of National Fish Resources, wholesale prices for pink salmon in the Far East decreased by 60% year-on-year, to 155 rubles. per 1 kg, and the average cost of chum salmon increased by 5.5%, to 380 rubles. for 1 kg.

Executive Director of the Association of Industrial and Trade Enterprises of the Fish Market Alexander Fomin notes that the salmon market is highly dependent on natural factors: this year the catch is significant, but next year the production may decrease. According to him, wild salmon remains a popular product on the domestic market and for export. And chum salmon caught on the Amur is especially valued in foreign markets, the expert adds.

Anatoly Kostyrev