Honorary Consul of Ukraine in the Netherlands: Russia earns EUR 7B from fish sales, sanctions needed

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.

"Worldwide, Russia earns EUR 7 billion from fish. EUR 1.5 billion of those EUR 7 billion is earned through the Netherlands. Therefore, more sanctions against Russia are needed, including a ban on importing Russian fish. This would deliver a huge 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 denied access to the ports of Velsen, close to Amsterdam, due to espionage activities by Russian fishing vessels. Therefore, now the Russian company Norebo is using a Norwegian company with Norwegian-flagged ships to deceive Dutch authorities. The fishing vessels transporting fish from Murmansk to Velsen for Norebo are using Norwegian ships, but with a Russian crew. They use the port in Velsen, which has excellent infrastructure and necessary conditions for processing fish (warehouses, distribution, cooling, and freezing). The Russian company Norebo has a subsidiary in the Netherlands, registered in Amsterdam. So, they are also utilizing the Dutch financial sector," Dirven noted.

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

"Additionally, Dutch and Norwegian journalists have discovered that Russian fishing vessels catch all the fish, ignoring European fishing quotas, and also catch fish that are too small. Since this fish is brought to the Dutch port of Velsen, where EU regulations apply, Dutch authorities can enforce EU legislation, but this is not happening in practice. Moreover, it has been found that the documentation for the caught fish is often not in proper order. So Dutch authorities should 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. At the same time, NVWA has the right to inspect all fishing vessels entering Dutch 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 is a need for 100% inspections of Russian fish imports, to add Russian white fish to the EU sanctions list, to add Norebo to the EU and US sanctions lists, and to deny Russian sailors access to Dutch ports due to the risks of espionage and sabotage," 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.