USD100 million credit line to boost Russia’s salmon aquaculture

Russian Agricultural Bank provided Russian Sea Group the first tranche under the approved credit line with the total amount of RUR 2.8 billion for aquaculture development in Russia, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to the Russian Sea Company.

The loan provided to Russian Sea Group for investment purposes is one of the largest in Russian aquaculture segment.The borrowed funds will be spent on organization of Atlantic salmon farming on 9 fishing sites in Barents Sea basin.This credit line will allow us to realize commercial salmon farming on a qualitatively new level comparable to the best Norwegian fishing farms practices.

Russian Sea Group estimates the potential farming volumes on these sites to be around 25 thousand tons a year which represents approximately the fifth of total red fish import to Russia. The project implementation will allow Russian fish industry to become strategic for the country's food industry within next few years.

"Financing investment projects is one of the main priorities for Russian Agricultural Bank. The Bank's credit policy in agribusiness and related industries is aimed at supporting promising investment projects related to establishment of modern enterprises that implement highly effective innovative technologies. We suppose that the Group's plans to develop aquaculture in Russia will contribute to the fisheries modernization, consolidation of its productive potential and complex development of the region's economy" - said Kirill Levin, Deputy Chairman of Russian Agricultural Bank Board.

According to Russian Sea - Aquaculture CEO, Inna Golfand, the approval of the credit line is very important for both the Group and the industry. She said: "This loan will determine the aquaculture sector development trend for the next few years. Development of this segment will allow the Company to develop the highly profitable aquaculture business in Russia using up-to-date technologies".

Background

Russian Agricultural Bank is one of the leading financial institutions providing lending support to Russian agribusiness. The Bank was founded in 2000 and today is the key creditor of the country's agribusiness, the forth in Russian banking system as for its assets volume, one of the leaders of Russian banks' reliability rating. RussianAgriculturalBankis 100% state-ownedbank. Today, Russian Agricultural Bank's network of around 1600 sales points is the second largest regional branch network in the country.

Russian Sea Group was founded in 1997 and began its operations by importing herring and mackerel from Norway. In 1999, the Company launched production of the ready-to-eat fish products under its core ‘Russian Sea' brand and then continued its development as a producer and distributor of fish and fish products. At present, Russian Sea Group comprises two main business divisions, operated respectively by Russian Sea Company, and Russian Fish Company, each a wholly-owned subsidiary of Russian Sea Group.

The ‘ready-to-eat' business (Russian Sea Company) produces and sells "ready-to-eat" fish and seafood products under well-recognized brands, such as "Russian Sea","Islandka", "Selyodochka Stolichnaya", "Mediterana", "7 Uzlov" and "Flottika". These products include salted and smoked salmon and trout, red caviar, a wide assortment of herring products, seafood, seaweed products androe spreads. The Group operates a modern fish and seafood production facility in Noginsk, Moscow region (approximately 40 km from Moscow).

The Group's ‘chilled and frozen' business (Russian Fish Company) sells and distributes over 60 types of fish and seafood, including, among others, salmon, trout, cod, herring, mackerel, humpback salmon, pollack, flounder, shrimp and squid, to nationwide and regional retail chains, regional distributors and fish processing companies throughout Russia. The chilled and frozen fish and seafood business sources fish from domestic suppliers, as well as foreign suppliers from 18 countries, including, among others, Norway, the UK, the USA, Chile,Iceland,Vietnam and China. Its major international suppliers include Marine Harvest, Shetland Catch and Norway Pelagic. The Company supplies fish and seafood to over 85% of the regions of the Russian Federation.

The Group also operates a fish farming business (Russian Sea Aquaculture) which commenced operations in 2007 following the Group's purchase of a trout farm at Lake Segozero in Karelia, Russia, the entire output of which is currently sold to Russian Fish Company for further distribution.

For further enquiries contact:

Mila Rotinskih
Head of PR
Russian Sea Group
Cell.: +7 (903) 000 69 05
E-mail: media@russiansea.ru
http://www.russianseagroup.ru/

Natalia Trusova
IR manager
Russian Sea Group
Tel.: +7 (495) 258 99 28 ext. 3186
Cell.: +7 (917) 568 42 26
E-mail: nt@rusfishcom.ru
http://www.russianseagroup.ru/