MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Norwegian company Marine Harvest ASA, in an attempt to circumvent the countersanctions Russia imposed against Norwegian food producers this past August, has purchased a bankrupt Chilean company: Acuinova Chile SA.
Via its new Chilean holdings, as well as holdings in the Faroe Islands (which aren’t affected by the ban), the company will be able to resume its delivery of seafood products to Russia.
The deal, worth $120 million, will also boost the company’s salmon production capacity, already the largest in the world, by an estimated 15,000 metric tons, or 23 percent, by next year.
More than 300,000 tons of Norwegian seafood worth over $1 billion, which had been earmarked for Russia had to be diverted as a result of the countermeasures. Russia had been Norway’s second-largest purchaser of fish products in 2014, and its largest market for salmon and trout products.
Despite the sanctions, Norwegian companies and institutions remain hopeful for an improvement in economic relations with Russia, including increased cooperation in the area of tourism.
This past August, Russia banned food imports from the EU, Norway, Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States in response to sanctions imposed by those countries over Russia’s falsely-alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
