The company, owned by the son of the Governor of Primorye, Oleg Kozhemyako, won the auction for the sale of quotas for the annual catch of 150 tons of the most valuable type of crab – Kamchatka – right up to 2037. According to Kommersant, Nikita Kozhemyako's Voskhod paid 1.65 billion rubles for this right – 21 times more than the initial price.
Another 10 companies took part in the auction, the starting price was 78.22 million rubles. The Federal Fisheries Agency said that the funds would go to the federal budget, and such a strong excess was due to the fact that crab fishing is highly profitable.
At the same time, Dmitry Ozersky, chairman of the board of directors of the North-Western Fishery Consortium, told the publication that Kozhemyako may have overpaid for the quota and it would be difficult to recoup this money "under the current market conditions." In 2019, the cost of a crab caught in the Far East at the auction was $60 per 1 kg, here we are talking about $180.
Quotas for the catch of king crab are distributed only in Russia and Norway; in Alaska, its catch is prohibited. Russia is the main supplier in the market – this is up to 94% of the world volume.
In May, Kommersant wrote that crab fishing in Russia could completely stop due to a reduction in exports amid US sanctions. At the same time, even then the shippers had problems due to disrupted logistics.
Ozersky told the publication that such a strong price increase at the auction may be due to the prospects of the catch area. If deliveries to the US and Europe are completely stopped, the Russian market will try to reorient itself towards Asia. True, in order to deliver the crab, Western equipment will be required, which is now also difficult to import into Russia.