MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Russian fish and seafood exports as of the end of the first half of 2024 were below the figures for the same period from last year in physical and monetary terms, Chairman of the Fishing Union Alexander Panin told reporters.

"If we look at the statistics from the first six months of 2024, then we will see that almost all primary mass kinds of aquatic biological resources were exported by Russian fishermen in volumes below 2022 and 2023. The slip in exports was registered in both physical and money terms," Panin said.

Russian fishermen are now looking for new customers in new places, he noted. "Despite the expansion in destinations of export product supplies, China and Korea remain the key markets for sales of Russian products," Panin stressed.

Russian fish and seafood exports amounted to 1.238 mln metric tons as of the end of the first half of 2023 and 984,000 metric tons at the conclusion of the first half of this year.

Imports as of the end of the first three quarters of 2024 were above what they were in 2022, but less than in 2023, the expert said.

"Overall, the recovery of imports that began in 2023, following a sharp decline in 2022, has slowed down again in 2024. The main causes of this slowdown are the deteriorating situation with international payments, lasting problems with international logistics, the decline of the national currency rate, and the dramatic rise in the cost of loans as a consequence of the hiked key rate," Panin added.