THE OFFSHORE INDUSTRY WILL HALT ITS INVESTMENTS DUE TO THE LACK OF FUNDS PERTAINING TO THE

Anfaco and Conxemar have decided to join forces against a common enemy. Both associations. They have a compelling reason to do so: the seafood industry (fish and seafood processing companies, canneries, purification plants…) has been left out of the Agri-Food PERTE promoted by the Government and, in general, out of the Next Generation funds.

It is precisely a Community regulation that defines the compatibility of aid in the internal market and excludes the fisheries and aquaculture sector that is to blame. Following the announcement, the employers are now hoping to reach an “exception” so as not to be excluded and to be able to participate in the aforementioned calls for tenders. Otherwise, planned investments in digitization, energy savings, reduction of the environmental footprint or, in general, factory upgrades, would be seriously jeopardized and would come to a complete standstill. In this regard, the president of Conxemar, Eloy Garcia said: “You cannot leave out investments in sustainability to an entire sector; we do not understand it”.

Companies in the marine-industry chain will only be eligible for aid related to R&D, i.e., aid they were already receiving under other existing programs, but not for new aid.

The publication in the BOE, August 1, of the regulatory bases that establish the requirements for the granting of the first PERTE Agroalimentario aids, with a budget of 500 million, establishes that this sector is left out. The canning, processing and freezing industry employers are confident that a legal solution can be found.

Both Alonso and García describe the situation as “extremely serious”. “There have been calls from partners because there are companies that had important projects underway,” explains the president of Conxemar, who understands that this situation “logically leads to paralyze investments. Nobody could have imagined this”.

The PERTE Agroalimentario has an initial public investment budget of 1 billion euros until 2023, and an additional 800 million euros. Money that is up in the air for the marine industry.