Mr Zubkov said in his address to the roundtable, in particular:

"The development of fishing is among the Russian government's top priorities. And the industry responds to this with consistently good performance. The catch grew by 12% the last three years to make 3.7 million tonnes last year. The seafood yield for the first ten months of this year reached about 3.3 million tonnes, roughly 200,000 tonnes more than in the same period of last year. This success allows us to expect that we will hit the target of 3.8 million tonnes by the end of the year.

It is also significant that the growth in the catch is accompanied by financial and economic improvements in the industry. Its turnover grew by 21% to 101.5 billion roubles the last three years. The share of profitable companies grew by 12% to the present-day 75%. Their total profit exceeded losses by 10.8 billion roubles - six times more than three years ago. The average monthly wage has doubled to exceed 29,000 roubles - all this thanks to Russian investors and their foreign colleagues who are gradually finding their bearings in the Russian market.

I also think that comprehensive government decisions to form a modern regulatory framework for the industry also provided an impetus for improvement. Industrial regulations have been created from scratch. The government has adopted programme documents: the concept and the strategy for fishing industry development through 2020 and a federal targeted programme through 2014. Though we had to be thrifty with last year's and this year's budget, we have not cut allocations to the fishing industry: 15 billion roubles in 2009 and 14 billion this year. Another 14 billion are earmarked for next year. The government intends to subsidise interest on loans, reduce tax rates for the use of biological resources, and shift small businesses to flat agricultural taxation. These measures are being implemented already. So we have found the best possible development tactics for the fishing industry, even if by trial and error. Now, the industry is making steady headway.

We are well aware, however, that a good catch is only the beginning. Fish must also be processed, shipped and sold. The sufficient supply of quality and affordable fish in stores is the principal mark of success. To hit this target, the industry needs all-round improvement. The fishing fleet and the coastal infrastructure must be modernised, the transport network streamlined, wholesale trade developed, and the choice and quality of seafood in the domestic market improved. We should also further develop industrial standards and regulations, and remove excessive administrative barriers.

We are working along these lines, and we have already seen some results. Fifty fishing vessels have been modernised and 32 new vessels were purchased over the past two years. Three of the new ships were built in Russia. Piers are being reconstructed in eleven seaports servicing the fishing fleet in compliance with the federal targeted programme.

Several regions have begun the construction of specialised fish markets and refrigerators. A terminal holding up to 28,000 tonnes of fish at a time and a fish shop from the Ocean chain are opening in St Petersburg this Friday.

Technical requirements for the production of fish have been drawn, and the State Duma will consider them during its autumn session. Rather stringent requirements on the amount of water and phosphates in frozen fish went into effect on October 1.

I would like to call our foreign partners' attention to our intention to steadily increase exports of highly processed seafood and increase the share of Russian fish in the domestic market. It accounted for 72.4% of domestic fish sales last year and we are planning to hit the 80% mark by 2014. We also plan to raise per capita fish consumption from the current 15 kilograms to 24 by 2020.

In this regard, we see that the most promising investment areas are in the construction of seaport infrastructure, canneries and logistic and wholesale centres.

I think that the exhibition opening today is a sound basis for such cooperation. These annual shows are among our signals to Russian and overseas business communities. We have got a good start, and now is the time to accelerate progress. We should turn Interfish exhibitions into a really prestigious and well-established means of demonstrating achievements and discussing industrial prospects."

The roundtable discussed the present state and development trends of the Russian fishing industry, the joint state and business efforts to develop it, the prospects for further investment, and the supply of affordable, quality fish to the people.

The meeting was attended by CEOs of more than 30 leading Russian and foreign companies engaged in fishing and seafood storage, transportation, processing and sales.

The roundtable, The Investment Climate in Russian Fishing: Development Prospects, was the central business-oriented event of the Interfish international fishing exhibition - Russia's main fishing exhibition. More than 150 major companies from 12 countries are taking part in the exhibition.

Viktor Zubkov and the head of the Federal Fisheries Agency Andrei Krainy visited the exhibition before meeting with the roundtable participants to see the latest technology and R&D for fishing and fish transportation, storage, processing and sales.