Shipping agent: we must not cut trade ties with Russia

The government is nearing a decision on whether to start negotiations with Russia regarding a possible renewal of the fisheries deal which expires at the end of this year.

Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen recently travelled to Norway to hear about the country’s decision to continue its fishing commerce with Russia.

On his return to the Faroes, he said he would sit down with the party leaders to reach a decision for the Faroes.

 >> SEE ALSO Widely varying views on Russian fisheries deal

Meanwhile, Faroe Agency, the shipping agency representing Russian fishing vessels in the Faroes, has remained silent on the issue. Until now.

“We must not cut trade ties with Russia. Doing so would be extremely costly for the Faroes. We need to distinguish between ethics and business here, says Karl-Erik Reynheim, CEO of Faroe Agency.

According to the agency, revenues from fishing rights and the provision of Faroese port, transport and storage services to Russia amounted to DKK 1.2 billion last year.

“We benefit a lot more from this partnership than the Russians do and suspending our fishing trade with Russia is unlikely to stop the war” he says.

 >> SEE ALSO Only Faroese and Russian ships fishing in Barents Sea

Foreign minister Jenis av Rana and virtually all opposition MPs say that it is ethically wrong to continue working with Russia.

Reynheim believes it is also ethically wrong to take the food out of the mouths of people who have almost nothing.

“A vast majority of the Russian people who consume our fish products live well below what we define as the poverty line.”

 >> SEE ALSO Minister: we should fear Russia

When asked whether a continued trade partnership with Russia would not put the Faroes on the wrong side of history, Reynheim replies:

“If that is the case, most of Western Europe will also end up on the wrong side of history because these countries continue to purchase huge quantities of gas, oil and other commodities from Russia.

“War is obviously a horrible thing, but this is business. We must not forget that cutting trade ties with Russia would cause an enormous blow to the Faroese economy.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.