Belarusian seafood company Santa Bremor has ceased deliveries of salmon to Russia under the Russian Sea Brand after losing access to salmon farmed in Western nations.
Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that the company’s salmon and trout has disappeared from sale. Citing a source within Santa Bremor, the newspaper claimed the suspension of deliveries was due to restrictions on exports from countries where the company sourced its salmon.
The Chairman of the Russian Fish Union, Alexander Panin, has said that, until recently, Belarusian suppliers of red fish products obtained salmon from Norway and the Faroe Islands. After a new wave of sanctions hit Belarus and Russia, that source of salmon was blocked, according to Panin.
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It has been suggested that, over time, companies like Santa Bremor will seek to replace its source of salmon with red fish caught in Chile and the Far East, although this could potentially lead to a rise in costs for consumers and hit the company’s sales and market share.
Ilya Sosnov, CEO of Russian Aquaculture, played down the concerns about the country’s ability to continue securing a supply of salmon, arguing that the decrease in deliveries is down to reduced demand during May-September. Russian Aquaculture estimated in 2020 that the volume of its red fish market at 114,000 tonnes, 99,000 tonnes of which is imported.
Read also: Russian veterinary authorities ask Belarus to tighten up supply of Norwegian salmon and trout
Santa Bremor is part of the Belarusian Santa Group of Alexander Moshensky, which includes the Savushkin Product dairy manufacturer and the Santa supermarket chain, as well as other projects, such as real estate, restaurants and hotels.
Santa Bremor has been present in the Russian market since 2013 after purchasing a fish processing plant from Maxim Vorobyov and Gennady Timchenko in the Moscow region.
