CEO Regin Jacobsen said that Russians authorities have been given all requested documentation two days ago to lift the ban.
Bakkafrost has been hit hard after they were denied access to the lucrative Russian market in the fourth quarter. But now there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
“Two days ago, all the papers were delivered to Russia. There has been a continuous dialogue with the Russian authorities, and we have provided documentation of all that they have in demand,” said Jacobsen to SalmonBusiness.
He thinks it is only a matter of time before Bakkafrost again gets access to the market.
“As we see it, they should have everything needed to reopen our operation to Russia,” said Jacobsen.
Can take time
Although Jacobsen is confident that the Russians have now got what they have in demand, but he is uncertain when they will open up again for Bakkafrost.
Read more: Change in market strategy penalised Bakkafrost in the fourth quarter
“They decide that for themselves, and we do not know how much time the will use,” he said.
This is not the first time Bakkafrost is in dialogue with the Russian authorities about access to the market. But previous experiences do not give Jacobsen any indication of how much time they will spend on deciding.
“The only thing we know from before is that we do not know how long it takes,” he said.
Was punished harder than they thought
There were discoveries of bacteria in the cut-offs from the factory in Glyvrar which was imported to Russia last November which shut Bakkafrost out off the Russian market.
At that time, Bakkafrost expected that the exclusion would only affect by-products. But they wrong to assume so.
“We expected this to only affect by-products. It was also what we received messages about. But it turned out that we did not get to export to Russia at all,” said Jacobsen.
As a result, the fourth quarter was weaker than expected.
