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First crab auctions preliminarily scheduled for September, says Russian fishery agency

The bill on crab auctions has been passed by both houses of parliament, if signed by Russian President, the document will come into force within ten days after the official publication

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. First auctions for crab catch quotas are preliminarily scheduled for September 2019, Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery said in a statement on Friday.

On Thursday, the first meeting of the working group for control of implementation of the bill stipulating introduction of crab production (catching) quotas was held, the agency said. "The next meeting of the working group is planned before the (State) Duma holidays at the end of July. The participants of the group also plan to meet one more time before first auctions that are preliminarily scheduled for September 2019," the statement said.

The previous meeting focused on the issues of preparing the policy framework, including the ‘roadmap’ and by-laws, as well as the possibility of distributing other types of aquatic bio-resources at auctions, the agency said. Moreover, the issue of follow-up control for adoption of regulatory acts was discussed separately in order to avoid the risks of failure to fulfill budget commitments.

All acts excluding amendments to the permissions’ cancellation policy should be developed in the third quarter, and virtually during the summer, considering the plans to hold the auction in early autumn, Director of the Russian Agriculture Ministry’s Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Regulation Evgeniy Katz said.

"We are accelerating the process to the term envisioned by the roadmap to the extent possible," he said quoted as saying.

Katz added that the draft report on inexpedience of distributing other types of aquatic bio-resources under the mechanism similar to that on crab auctions is being currently developed. The document has been prepared by the Agriculture Ministry.

The bill on crab auctions has been passed by the State Duma (lower house) and Federation Council (upper house). If signed by Russian President, the document will come into force within ten days after the official publication.

The bill introduces the quota for crab production (catching) for investment purposes. It is suggested to allocate 50% of the total allowable crab catch for this type of quota. Shares in quotas will be assigned to users for 15 years according to results of auctions. Furthermore, additional requirements to users of investment quotas for crabs will be introduced. Winners of the auction will be obliged to construct facilities in Russia, with the list to be determined by the government.

Russia’s Agriculture Ministry has estimated additional budget revenues from holding crab auctions in the amount of about 82 bln rubles ($1.2 bln) in 2019-2020.

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