International Seminar “Prospects of Aquaculture Development in Russia and Russian-Norwegian Projects in the context of the Aquaculture Complex Development Concept in the Republic of Tatarstan” was held on December 5, 2017 in Kazan under the auspices of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway. The focus of attention is on the status and prospects of fish farming in Russia and Tatarstan, the priority areas of cooperation between Tatarstan and Norway in the field of aquaculture, the participation of government authorities and universities in the development of the industry, as well as the possibility of using advanced Norwegian technologies for growing commercial fish.
The event was organized by the Trade Department of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Moscow with the support of Innovative Technopark “Idea”, co-organizers were Kazan National Research Technological University (KNRTU) and Rosrybolovstvo. The seminar brought together representatives of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Russia, the Federal Fisheries Agency, heads of Norwegian companies producing commercial salmon, as well as specialists of leading universities in Norway and Tatarstan in the field of aquaculture development, environmental protection and production of fish feeds, specialized equipment suppliers.
The republic’s leadership was represented by Assistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Chairman of the Republican Council for Reproduction of Aquatic Biological Resources and Aquaculture Development in the Republic of Tatarstan Ravil Muratov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Albert Karimov and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Nazip Khazipov.
All participants of the seminar, speaking with key reports, emphasized the urgency of the theme of the development of fish farming and the promotion of marketable fish to the Russian consumer market, the promising nature of the development of production in Tatarstan, great experience and variety of export technologies from the Norwegian side.
Assistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Ravil Muratov recalled that even in the XIX century in the province of Kazan, serious attempts were made to develop artificial cultivation of sturgeon fry to plant it in natural reservoirs. Currently work is being done on a larger scale, and the attraction of advanced technologies to achieve meaningful results is necessary.
Representatives of Norwegian companies noted that Tatarstan has a very favorable situation for the implementation of powerful projects in the field of fish farming: this is the availability of the region with aqua resources, convenient location and good transport links with both the European and Asian part of the country, significant economic and scientific potential of the republic and well-established system of public administration.
The Deputy Head of the Department of Aquaculture of the Federal Agency for Fishery Alexander Malashenko made analytical report. He drew the attention of the audience to the fact that in Russia, which has a huge aqua fund, almost a quarter of it is used productively for the production of marketable fish, and the ration of Russians is characterized by a noticeable deficit of fish, while fish is one of the most important sources of the required human animal protein. At the same time, fish production looks very attractive from the economic point of view: in Russia the development of fish farming is possible with lower costs, carp and herbivorous fish meat is more affordable for the population than pork and beef.
The speakers emphasized that this is fully understood at both the federal and the regional level. A branch program “Development of commodity aquaculture (commodity fish culture) in the Russian Federation for 2015-2020” was approved by the order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia in 2015. In our republic, the development of the industry is paid great attention by the President Rustam Minnikhanov. Practical steps have also been taken: so, in October 2017, a signing of a pre-investment agreement was signed between the Norwegian company Noras Watertech and Innovative Technopark “Idea” on the construction of a salmon plant in Tatarstan with a capacity of 3,000 tons per year.
Acting General Director of Technopark “Idea” Oleg Ibragimov spoke in detail about the project of creation of Technopolis Aquaculture with a total area of 50 hectares, which will be located in Naberezhnye Chelny. There will be provided for placing a salmon production plant with a capacity of up to 10,000 tons per year (a joint project of Technopark “Idea” with Noras Vatertech) and clari catfish production plant up to 20,000 tons per year, a feed mill, a waste processing plant to save greenhouse gases. A joint Russian-Norwegian research laboratory will become one of the key elements of the Technopolis Aquaculture.
The second day of the seminar was held in the Technopark “Idea” in the format of a workshop on the implementation of the project “Technopolis “Idea”. Aquaculture Naberezhnye Chelny” with the participation of Deputy Head of the Federal Fishery Agency Vasily Sokolov, Deputy Chairman of the State Corporation “Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)” Irina Makieva, Assistant to the President of RT, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Technopark “Idea” Ravil Muratov.
The potential of the project was highly appreciated by the participants of the meeting. The Commission noted that the proposed project of Technopolis Aquaculture is by far the most developed project for the development of commercial aquaculture production in the Russian Federation. By the decision of the experts the project was transferred to the stage of the formation of financial documentation to attract external sources of financing.
The implementation of these projects is impossible without the involvement of specialists from Russian and Norwegian universities. Acting Rector of the Kazan National Research Technological University Sergey Yushko, representatives of the universities of Bergen and Tromsø Amund Moge and Espen Tau Strand told the audience about the opportunities for co-operation. Sergey Yushko also made a keynote report at the seminar section for representatives of the scientific community in the field of aquaculture and feed production in the Technopark “Idea”. The issues of professional nature, as well as options of the cooperation with Norwegian colleagues were discussed by specialists of the Kazan National Research Technological University and Kazan State Power Engineering University.
Material: Press center of KNITU, Press Service of Technopark “Idea”
Photo: Press center of KNITU, press service of Technopark “Idea”
