13:02 - 14.11.2023

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November 14, Fineko/abc.az. The delay in the privatization of fish factories increases the costs of the State Budget.

ABC.AZ reports that Sadig Gurbanov, the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Ecology, said about this at the discussion of the Draft Law on State Budget 2024 at Milli Majlis.

The MP noted that currently the level of self-sufficiency of fish products produced in the country is low and insufficient to fully meet domestic demand: "The average annual consumption of fish and fish products per capita in the country reached about 7.2 kg in 2014 and 7.4 kg in 2021. In the world, this figure is 20.5 kg, and in Europe - 24 kg. Although the production of caught and farmed fish in the country has increased 5-fold over the past 15 years, it still accounts for only 1% of the total volume of fish products consumed in the country. According to the State Statistics Committee, in 2000 there were 12 fish farming enterprises in the country, and in 2020 - 7, of which 3 are currently actively functioning. At the Khilli sturgeon breeding plant with annual production capacity of 15 million in 2019-2022, 2,144,135 sturgeon fries were bred and released into reservoirs, which is 37.3-fold less than the corresponding average for 2002-2003.