Oligarch says how Belarusian mussels are produced

For those in Russia who make ironic remarks about Belarusian shrimps and mussels.

Aliaksandr Mashenki, the general director of Santa Bremor and Savushkin Produkt companies, shared his views on anti-Russian sanctions.

He also responded to irony of those Russians who expect Belarusian shrimps and mussels in Russian stores.

“Russia imposed sanctions against a number of its suppliers, which seems to be logical. It gave an opportunity for the neutral countries, such as Belarus and Kazakhstan, to gain profit from it. The Customs Union exists for this purpose, doesn't it?” Aliaksandr Mashenski told Vecherni Brest. “Moreover, this stance of Belarus and Kazakhstan was clearly defined at talks. We managed to defend it finally.”

The businessman thinks the sanctions may become a signal to opening new production facilities in Belarus founded by western or Russian companies that will regard Belarus as a place to get access to the Russian market. Some temporary decisions and a test period are possible at the beginning, but every project of that kind may turn into a long-term project:

“There's an opportunity that can be rather risky, in my view,” Mashenski said. “I mean recent offers to get involved in some schemes related to formal bypassing of sanctions by reexporting products from the EU without deep processing. In other words, to use replacing, packaging or in sufficient processing. We decline these offers, but I cannot rule out the possibility that someone may find them acceptable. I think such schemes carry huge reputation risks for our country and can economically harm those who agree to use them.”

He responded to ironic expectations that landlocked Belarus will feed Russia with salmon.

“Our company is well-known, so we were not surprised to hear these speculations. We continue to process fish and seafood. As for particular products, Norwegian salmon is considered to be the main 'victim' of the Russian sanctions. Its share in Santa Bremor's production is less than 15%. The finished product – sliced smoked or lightly-salted salmon – is our product in accordance with all standards. We sell it under the trademark Santa Bremor and, since recently, Russkoe More. We see an increase in requests for salmon, but it is not a significant growth.

For those in Russia who make ironic remarks about Belarusian shrimps and mussels, I'd like to say that unlike the Russian standards, Belarusian ones do not allow viewing packaging as processing. It is strictly controlled. We have special certification procedures.

The principle of 'sufficient processing' is used. In the case of shrimps, which we have been processing for seven years, it looks as follows: our finished products are boiled IQF shrimps or preserved seafood. It is deep processing. The same cannot be said about numerous firms offering dried squid and fish under the guise of Russian products, though everybody knows they come from China,” he said.