Shellfish taxes – Newspaper Kommersant No. 221 (7422) dated 11/29/2022

The 1,600-fold increase in the collection rates for some species of bivalve mollusks in November disturbed the miners of this resource. A company connected with the family of the ex-governor of Primorye, Sergei Darkin, warned regulators about a possible stop to the fishery due to lower profitability. Officials assure that the collection rates were agreed upon by all parties.

Some shellfish hunters are facing a halt in fishing due to a sharp increase in harvesting fees. Sergey Slepchenko, the general director of the seaside LLC Aquatechnologii, informed the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev and the head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov about this. Kommersant has a copy of the letter dated November 25.

Aquatechnologies, follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, is 50% controlled by JSC Dalinvestgroup, which is associated on the market with the family of the ex-governor of Primorye Sergey Darkin. As stated in the company’s letter, with an increase in the rates for the extraction of aquatic biological resources in November, the fee for almost all mollusks was increased by 7.5 times, to 150 rubles. per ton. But for two species – spizula and corbicula – the rates increased by 1.62 thousand times, to 32.4 thousand and 19.8 thousand rubles. per ton, respectively. As a result, the letter says, the amount of collection for resources has reached 16.5% of their average price, and for crab and shrimp the ratio does not exceed 2%.

German Zverev, president of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries, explains that spizula is primarily used in Asian cuisine and has a steady demand in China, Japan and Korea. And corbicula is popular mainly in Japan, where it is also used for medical purposes. Some of these mollusks are also supplied to the Russian market, he adds.

Aquatechnologies owns more than 86% of the quotas for the catch of spizula (about 517 tons for 2022) and almost 99% of the quotas for the extraction of corbicula (over 540 tons). According to Sergey Slepchenko, at the current collection rates, the business of harvesting these mollusks will cease to be profitable, which will lead to a halt in fishing and a reduction in jobs. “Aquatechnologies” are asked to set collection rates at the level of no more than 600 rubles. per ton – 2% of the average price.

According to German Zverev, the collection rates have not increased since 2008, and prices for fish and seafood have increased significantly, but indexation should have an economic justification, and rates in one segment, such as shellfish, should be raised equally. In addition, he emphasizes, the collection rates for these two types of molluscs were not discussed with the industry community and were introduced during the preparation of the bill on indexation for the second reading.

Sergey Sennikov, deputy director of Norebo Management Company, says that the collection rates were calculated based on the market value of the resource determined by experts, and perhaps the problem could have appeared at this stage. He agrees that the fee of 16.5% of the average price is very high for the industry, adding that the tax burden is growing. At the beginning of 2023, companies must immediately pay the state 15% of the fee for all their resources, the remaining 85% within a year, and only in 2024 can a business claim a tax deduction, Mr. Sennikov points out. Although the manager of the Dobroflot Group of Companies, Alexander Efremov, believes that the rise in the cost of bank financing and the increase in the cost of fuel affect the business of enterprises by an order of magnitude worse than the increase in collection rates. And the head of the Information Agency for Fisheries, Alexander Saveliev, notes that business in the industry is increasingly complicated by changes in regulation.

Executive Director of the Association of Production and Trade Enterprises of the Fish Market Alexander Fomin adds that Aquatechnologies has launched the production of canned mollusks for the domestic market. And if resource fees were calculated based on the export price, such a project cannot be profitable, he says. In addition, the expert continues, the cost of shellfish varies greatly. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Agency for Fishery told Kommersant that the appeal would be considered. The Federal Agency for Fishery added that the collection rates were discussed during the consideration of the bill and were agreed upon by all interested parties.

Anatoly Kostyrev