According to the Financial Times (subscription needed), the reason is a boom in Russia’s food and agriculture sector caused by restrictions on western imports.
Consumers in Russia have had to turn to domestically-produced food, after the EU and the US imposed sanctions on some Russian businesses following the country’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014.
664 per cent more fish
60 percent of total meat and fish imports were banned, creating a unique opportunity for Russian Aquaculture. The company produced 664 percent more fish in the first half of 2017 compared with last year.
Business is so good it is preparing for a secondary share listing “in the near future”.
Ilya Sosnov, Chief Executive, said that he aimed to boost production to 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of fish by 2025.
“We expect to eventually have a market share of around 25 percent in Russia, which is currently dominated by importers.”
Shares have quadrupled
Russian Aquaculture recently opened a new 1,500 tonne fish farm, and shares in the company have quadrupled since 2014.
“The west is shooting itself in the foot. Sanctions were meant to hurt Russia, but Russian agriculture has benefited,” said Jim Rogers, a US investor who has shares in PhosAgro (one of the world’s leading producers of phosphate-based fertilisers) and sits on its board.
