Honorary Consul Of Ukraine In The Netherlands: Russia Earns EUR 7B From Fish Sales, Sanctions Needed

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Russia earns EUR
7
billion annually from the sale of fish, of which EUR
1.5
billion comes through the Netherlands, so the West needs to strengthen sanctions against Russia's fishing industry to strike a blow to the Russian economy.

This was stated by the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Karel Burger Dirven, in a comment to a Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague.

"Russia earns 7 billion euros from fish globally, 1.5 billion of this comes through the Netherlands. Therefore, more sanctions are needed against Russia, including a ban on the import of Russian fish. This will deal a significant blow to the Russian economy," he said.

Dirven, who is also an advisor to the EBRD, emphasized that sanctions are working, but some key sectors of the Russian industry have yet to feel the impact of Western sanctions.

"Sanctions are working. Russian ships have already been banned from access to the ports of Velsen, near Amsterdam, due to espionage activities by Russian fishing vessels. Now, the Russian company Norebo uses a Norwegian company with ships under the Norwegian flag to deceive the Netherlands authorities. The fishing vessels that carry fish from Murmansk to Velsen for Norebo use Norwegian ships but with Russian crews. They use the port of Velsen, which has excellent infrastructure and necessary conditions for fish processing - warehouses, distribution, cooling, and freezing. Norebo (Russia) has a subsidiary in the Netherlands, registered in Amsterdam. So they also use the Netherlands' financial sector," Dirven noted.

He also stated: "Since Russia earns billions, white fish should also be on the sanctions list."

Furthermore, Dutch and Norwegian journalists discovered that Russian fishing vessels catch fish while ignoring European fishing quotas and also catch fish that are too small. "Since this fish is delivered to the port of Velsen, where EU regulations apply, the Netherlands' authorities could enforce European legislation, but this is not actually happening. Moreover, it turned out that the documentation for the caught fish is often improperly done. Therefore, the Netherlands' authorities must enforce EU law," emphasized Dirven.

He also noted that the import of Russian fish to the Netherlands is poorly controlled.

"The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) says they can't do anything because white fish is not on the sanctions list. Also, the authority is understaffed to carry out thorough inspections. However, the NVWA has the right to inspect all fishing vessels entering the Netherlands' ports," he said.

The Honorary Consul of Ukraine in the Netherlands also shared that Dutch parliamentarians have already started raising the "fish issue" and are seeking to take measures against Russian fish trade through the Netherlands.

"There needs to be 100% inspection of Russian fish imports, Russian white fish should be added to the EU sanctions list, Norebo should be added to the EU and US sanctions lists, and Russian sailors should be denied access to the Netherlands ports due to espionage and sabotage risks," the Honorary Consul emphasized.

As reported by Ukrinform, the EU adopted the 15th sanctions package against Russia on December
16 in response to the armed aggression against Ukraine.

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