Investors fell for sturgeon – Kommersant

The owner of the Agrivolga agricultural holding and investor in tourism projects, Sergei Bachin, is expanding his portfolio of assets in fish farming. The structure controlled by the businessman became the main owner of the company developing a sturgeon production project in the Yaroslavl region with a capacity of about 100 tons at the first stage. There is a demand for this type of fish, despite a 75% increase in prices over two years, producers say. However, experts admit that it will decline due to difficulties in the economy.

The Rybinsk Sea company, controlled by Sergei Bachin, in September 2023 received 51% of NPF Kasatka LLC, which is engaged in fish farming in the Yaroslavl region, follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The regional government previously reported that NPF “Kasatka” is implementing a project for the production of sturgeon, growing juvenile sterlet and pike perch, planning to build a workshop with closed water supply installations with a production volume of about 100 tons of fish per year and a processing site with further expansion. Another 49% of NPF Kasatka is owned by general director Dmitry Novikov.

Sergey Bachin managed the development assets of Vladimir Potanin’s Interros in 2003–2009, and was the general director of Rosa Khutor in 2009–2019, and then the head of the board of directors of the resort. It is developing its Agranta group, which includes the Agrivolga agricultural holding with a specialization in organic agriculture, the Bolshoye Zavidovo and Yaroslavskoe Vzmorye complexes in the Tver and Yaroslavl regions. Vasta Discovery of Mr. Bachin is engaged in tourism projects in the Far East. Agrant and NPF Kasatka did not answer Kommersant.

In recent years, Sergei Bachin has acquired several assets in the production and extraction of fish. The Rybinsk Sea was created in 2021 for a project to produce 300 tons of trout per year with processing in the Yaroslavl region, a local official previously told Kommersant. And this summer, another structure of Mr. Bachin became the owner of the Sakhalin company “Alaid” with quotas for catching pollock, herring and scallops, as well as producing and processing salmon (see “Kommersant” on July 19).

According to Rosrybolovstvo, in the first half of 2023, 228.2 thousand tons of marketable fish were released in the Russian Federation, which is 5.8% more than a year earlier. The main share (95 thousand tons) comes from salmon, 65.4 thousand tons from seafood, 58.1 thousand from carp, 4.45 thousand tons from sturgeon. Rosselkhozbank (RSHB) estimates the investment potential of fish farming at 60–70 billion rubles. in the medium term, taking into account new production of feed and planting material. For now, experts point out, business is complicated by heavy dependence on imported feed and fry. According to the Russian Agricultural Bank, while the industry’s feed demand is 280 thousand tons, the Russian Federation produces about 110 thousand tons annually. In addition, analysts pointed out, risks include dependence on weather conditions and loss of biomass due to disease outbreaks with a long period of business recovery.

President of the Union of Sturgeon Breeders Alexander Novikov says that the sturgeon market can be attractive, but production requires the right technology and an experienced team, on which the cost of production will depend. According to him, prices for sturgeon over the past two years have increased by about 75% in the face of rising costs for enterprises. But this also speaks of continued demand, Mr. Novikov points out. According to calculations by the Fishing Union based on data from the Federal Fisheries Agency, the most noticeable increase in Russia in 2016–2021 was the per capita consumption of shrimp, mussels, salmon and sturgeon.

Managing partner of Agro & Food Communications Ilya Bereznyuk says that investor interest in fish farming is growing, including due to new local projects for the production of feed. In addition, the volume of fish production in the country remains small compared to the volume of catch, he notes. The National Rating Agency admits a decrease in demand for fish in Russia due to complications in the economy, and also notes an increase in the cost of planting material and a reduction in the share of profitable organizations in fish farming and fishing.

Anatoly Kostyrev