The Lotofish company, owned by billionaire Araz Agalarov, bought a large complex of ponds in the Moscow region for 120 million rubles, becoming the only bidder. According to experts, the facility can grow from 2000 to 4000 tons of fish
The company “Lotofish”, which is 90% owned by “Crocus” billionaire Araz Agalarov #100 , has won the auction for the sale of the complex of ponds of Lotoshinsky fish factory in Moscow region. According to the minutes of a common electronic trading platform, the property was sold by the structure of the bank “Vozrozhdenie”, the “Vedomosti” writes.
The Lotoshinsky fish factory, founded back in the USSR, is located in Volokolamsk District. At the present time the enterprise where the carp, trout and crucian carp were raised is mothballed. In 2010, the factory was declared bankrupt. One of its creditors was Bank Vozrozhdenie, whose structures in 2015, bought the property after the bankruptcy proceedings, the publication notes with reference to the register of information about the bankruptcy.
The firm of Agalarov, who heads Crocus Group, one of Russia’s largest developers, was the only bidder. For the plant it offered 120 million rubles at an initial price of 183 million rubles. The area of the plant’s land plot, where the artificial ponds are located, exceeds 1600 hectares, says the bidding documentation.
According to Inna Golfand, the partner of “NEO Centre”, the object with such an area is considered to be quite large, and it is possible to grow 2300-4650 tons of fish. About 200 million rubles are necessary for the launch of the enterprise, including the purchase of fry, the expert estimated. Golfand added that the main part of wild fish in Russia is bred in the ponds, the rest is pasturage and industrial aquaculture. Most of the production is done by old soviet enterprises. According to Rosrybkhoz, the association “Big Fish” is the largest of them. According to its manager Alexander Ershov, the main production is concentrated in the Krasnodar Territory, Rostov and Astrakhan Regions.
A representative of Crocus Group did not answer the newspaper’s questions, and a representative of Bank Vozrozhdenie said that there were no restrictions under the terms of the tender. An official near Moscow told the newspaper that the enterprise is suitable only for fish farming, adding that the previous management of the plant had planned to modernize and increase production even before the sale.
