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One gram - one dollar. That's how much sturgeon caviar grown in the Kyiv region costs. BusinessCensor asked the owners of the OSETR sturgeon farm about the production of black caviar.

BUSINESS HEROES. How the largest producer of black caviar works in Ukraine 01

40 km from Kyiv, in the satellite town of Ukrainka, there is a large enterprise for growing sturgeon fish and producing black caviar.

The enterprise is located near the Trypilska TPP, which is part of the state-owned generation company "Centrenergo", on the water intake channel that the station uses.

The delicacy is sold in retail chains, restaurants and Duty Free shops under the OSETR trademark. A 100-gram jar of caviar in one of the capital's chains costs 2,500 UAH.

The sturgeon farm belongs to two partners - Maksym Mostovoy and Sergey Meshkov, who grew up in Ukrainka. The company employs 30 people.

As the partners say, caviar production is a "long-term business". Sturgeons begin to produce caviar at the age of 7-10 years. Each female can produce up to 25% of her weight in caviar, but the standard is 10% of the total weight once a year. Some species produce caviar once every two years.

At the OSETR farm, the fish are not cut, but milked, after each one has undergone an ultrasound scan. The "milking" process begins in the fall and lasts until February.

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According to the partners, the sturgeon farm produces up to a ton of black caviar per year. This is 10% of Ukraine's annual consumption of the delicacy.

The businessmen do not disclose the financial indicators of their business.

"The times are such that it is scary to talk about anything," says Maksim Mostovoy.

According to rough estimates, 1 gram of their caviar costs $1 in stores - OSETR's annual turnover from caviar sales can be up to $1 million.

When asked how often black caviar producers eat one of the most expensive delicacies, the partners answer: "More often than others, but not as often as we would like. We taste each batch. If you open a can, you have to finish it."

In addition to sturgeon and caviar sales, Mostovoy and Meshkov are engaged in the sale of sand, industrial fishing in the Dnieper and growing grain on leased 200 hectares in the Obukhovsky district.

We met with the businessmen in their office, the windows of which overlook the Tripolskaya TPP and the canal where the sturgeons grow up.

"There used to be a local fish farm here, which my father headed since 1975. Here on the TES channel there was historically a trout farm. Everywhere in the Soviet Union, fish farms were created near such stations, since there is a good current, the water rarely freezes in winter. In the summer, too, almost everything is fine. Trout love oxygen, love cold water, so in Soviet times there were wells that pumped cold artesian water into the channel. Electricity was free. - says Maxim Mostovoy - During perestroika, when everything began to cost more or less real money, this farm died economically. It was separated into a separate cooperative. I bought it from third or fourth parties. By the way, my first job was here - in the 7th grade with friends we stacked bricks on pallets."

It has been 15 years since Mostovoy and Meshkov bought the fish farm. They switched from trout to sturgeon species. The temperature conditions on the channel were more suitable for this fish. The farm began to live a new life.

"There were already good specialists here - a young couple of students who studied at the agricultural university. They practiced on the basis of this farm, and then stayed to work. Very talented ichthyologists. The guys incubated eggs, raised fry. There were sterlet, Russian and Siberian sturgeons. And after 5 years they told us that we have the largest population of sturgeon in Ukraine," says Mostovoy.

According to the founders of the fish farm, caviar has been produced on the farm for ten years, but as a brand it has existed for about three years.

"We received all the licenses. The workshop operates according to European quality standards. We comply with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points - a food quality assurance system) standards," says Mostovoy.

At first, the businessmen decided that their main clients were restaurants. We sent our people who went and offered caviar to establishments. It turned out that very few restaurants prepare dishes from black caviar.

"Then time played well for us. The tax authorities began to "pinch" restaurants about where they make purchases. And it was practically impossible to buy black caviar legally on the Ukrainian market. This was 4 years ago. And they began to buy from us little by little to legalize themselves. Then many switched from Bessarabian caviar (caviar from the Bessarabsky market of the capital) to ours. We were fresher. Upon request, we brought the goods, exchanged. The caviar was brought in a special refrigerator, so the temperature regime was not violated. But today the main channel for caviar sales is chain stores. Restaurants buy little. We also sell in Duty Free," recalls Maxim.

Today, OSETR gets caviar from sterlet, Siberian and Russian sturgeon. In addition, the farm is growing a herd of sterlet

Albino. This type of fish will produce black caviar with a golden tint. In total, the fish population is about 50 thousand pieces. Up to a ton of black caviar is collected per year.

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"But we are growing, developing," says Mostovoy. "Ukraine consumes 85%, and the rest is exported. This year we made a trial export to America. They consume caviar well there."

"But so far we do not have enough volume to seriously enter the US market. To do this, you need to have at least 5-10 tons of caviar per year. Normal European contracts start with 500 kg, or one ton," explains Meshkov.

Businessmen are reluctant to talk about their competitors. They only say that under the guise of official caviar, on farms that are not physically capable of producing large volumes of caviar, in fact, under the guise of an official product, they sell contraband.

"Contraband comes from Spain and Russia. It can be from anywhere. It can be from the Black and Azov Seas. This is poaching. This fish is listed in the Red Book. It cannot be caught at all, it can only be grown," says Sergei Meshkov.

According to him, Ukraine eats 10 tons of black caviar per year. Of this volume, only 20% is the official product.

"We sometimes buy caviar at food markets, try it, analyze it. We have never seen that the caviar that we bought in unofficial places was absolutely clean. It often contains Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli. It is impossible to bring contraband caviar here while maintaining the temperature regime," explains Meshkov.

At the same time, businessmen are engaged in selling sturgeon meat.

"The fate of male sturgeons is to be eaten. We do not sell meat through networks, it is distributed among friends and acquaintances. Sometimes, Orthodox monasteries come to us," says Meshkov. "We separate males and females in the third or fourth year. This is a small fish, so there are not many large volumes of meat. Plus, the culture of sturgeon meat consumption in Ukraine is low. There are farms that specialize only in meat, but sooner or later they become disillusioned with this."

"Dorado or trout need to be raised for 200-250 days, and sturgeon - 3 years. Trout can be fed with basically anything for 250 days. Who will look at its liver then? And for a sturgeon to live 20 years, it must be healthy, it must be fed tasty food, according to the diet. Each female can produce caviar for two decades. Our oldest is 15 years old," Mostovoy adds.

Fish feed is purchased in Europe, since there are no factories for its production in Ukraine.

"We buy Danish feed. It is produced on the basis of fish meal, and fish meal is imported. The development of aquaculture in Ukraine will begin only when a European feed manufacturer builds a plant here," Mostovoy reasons.

According to rough estimates of businessmen, imported feed makes up about 50% of the cost of the finished product. In general, the partners estimate the cost of producing one kilogram of black caviar at around 400-500 dollars.

"The cost of European sturgeon is cheaper than ours. Why? Look - the Pole does not pay the state for water, gets feed 30% cheaper, and his loan is 2%. And what about us? In Europe, such a business is insured, but not here. This is a long-term business: you invest money for 15 years in a row and only then do you feel the beginning of a return. And you can't stop investing money for at least a month in 15 years," says Meshkov.

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Maxim Mostovoy / Photo: landlord.ua

"We are sick with what the country is sick with"

Businessmen speak about officials in generalities.

"We don't ask anyone for help, as long as they don't interfere. They don't interfere with us in the sturgeon business. We can't say anything bad about the State Fisheries Agency. We have complete mutual understanding with them. If we need some declarations or something else, it happens quickly. Now the state bureaucracy understands us. But before that it was a little more difficult," says Meshkov.

"We also managed to reach an agreement with the TPP management. The TPP uses the canal. We do not interfere with them, on the contrary, we help them - we monitor order. This canal is strategic for the energy company and we, by and large, protect it," says Mostovoy. "After all, any diver can plant a bomb under the TPP, through this canal. Easy. Previously, it was guarded by the VOKHR (paramilitary security of the non-departmental security service). Now they also watch, but we know all the divers, we have all the moves recorded. People sit, fish on the other bank, and we keep track of them. There is a camera that photographs their face, a file lies there and writes down by date that he was here."

"And if in general, then we are sick with what the country is sick with. This is expensive money, bureaucracy, corruption. Our dream is for us not to be interfered with. We want order and legality. So that the rules were the same for everyone," adds Meshkov.

How to distinguish high-quality caviar from low-quality?

Businessmen say that it is difficult to determine high-quality black caviar from low-quality by eye.

"If you are very vigilant

flax, then you can distinguish dyed caviar from sturgeon. But if you take caviar prepared well somewhere in a boat, in a bucket, by a professional with a lot of experience and caviar prepared in my workshop, then you simply will not be able to tell the difference without additional research. My recommendation is simple - buy caviar where they are responsible for its standards. According to standards, caviar is stored for a year, but in fact it can last longer. The process of its preparation is salt and a little preservative, - advises Mostovoy. - Although in the markets today all caviar is fake. Previously, Russian ones were represented, "Russian Caviar House", but they were squeezed out by Ukrayinska Svidomista. Then caviar imports from Russia fell under sanctions. For us, this is good."

"In the future, we want to introduce some other types of fish and, of course, increase the volumes. I think that we can increase production to 5 tons of caviar. We also want to enter foreign markets. Moreover, now the borders are all opening," says Meshkov.

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Photo: landlord.ua

Sand supermarket

Meshkov and Mostovoy are also involved in another business. They own a small port in the village of Tripolye (near Ukrainka), where sand, crushed stone and other cargo are transshipped.

"Although a port is a big word, it is more likely a site with berths. In the future, I think that this will be a good and interesting project. Today we are like a "sand supermarket". We have video cameras, scales, receipts. The tax office knows before me that a truck of sand has been sold, since the tax office already has a report on wi-fi. The truck cannot just leave the territory. "We consciously moved away from some gray component," says Maksim.

In the future, the partners want to build a full-fledged industrial river port on the site of sand transshipment. They say that sand is a thing of the past. They see great potential in this, since Kiev currently has no port.

"Trypillia has a unique situation - it is the only place in Ukraine where there is a Dnieper fairway and a national road. So there should be a port there. Containers, large equipment, something large-scale need to be transshipped there. And we can collect grain here, quite well. There is no port in Kiev. It used to be, but now it is gone," says Mostovoy.

Today, the Rybalsky residential complex is being built near the Kyiv port, so it is unlikely that cargo will be transshipped there in the future. Plus, the height of the Gavansky Bridge will not allow ships to freely pass into the port. Source: https://biz.censor.net.ua/r3027965