Lithuania's VICI changes raw material supply scheme for Kaliningrad crab stick plant
VILNIUS. Sept 17 (Interfax) - Lithuanian group of companies Viciunai does not intend to stop operations at its fish processing plant in the Kaliningrad region, LLC Viciunai Rus, due to Russia's embargo on the import of agricultural products, raw materials and food from countries that joined the sanctions against Russia.
The factory is practically not reducing its capacity, Viciunai group head and majority shareholder Visvaldas Matijosaitis said in an interview with the business newspaper Verslo zinios.
"The geography of countries, from which the raw materials arrive for our Kaliningrad factory, is very wide. After the imposition of sanctions by Russia, we stopped carrying surimi [the main ingredient in the production of crab sticks] from those countries from which imports are banned. However, we started to import more raw materials from other countries - those that are unaffected by the ban. So, sanctions are not a barrier for us," he said.
"VICI crab sticks will not disappear from the shelves of Russian stores," Matijosaitis said, adding that crab sticks can be imported by Russia from Lithuania because they do not appear on the list of items that are banned for import.
Viciunai Group was established in 1991. The company is one of the largest European producers of crab sticks, other surimi products and fish. The group also has bakery and logistics enterprises.
The group has nine enterprises, including six in Lithuania, one each in Estonia (AS Paljassaare Kalatoostus), Spain (S.L.U. Sistemos Britor) and Russia (LLC Viciunai Rus). Annually they produce 120,000 tonnes of products, 85% of which are exported to almost 60 countries. The main brands are VICI, Esva and Columbus.