- Polar Seafood lukkede forhandlinger ned

When negotiations between two parties stop, it is often because both parties do not interpret the text in the same way.

This is clearly the case with the stopped negotiations between the fishing giants Royal Greenland and Polar Seafood.

Toke Binzer now states that generally good cooperation has been achieved between the parties in the matter of finding a solution to save Polar Seafood's factory in Aasiaat, but that it has not been successful in this case.

- We have not stopped any negotiations. We have been told by Polar Seafood that they do not want any more meetings with us, Royal Greenland CEO Toke Binzer tells Sermitsiaq.

And who is to blame for the negotiations stopping, Sermitsiaq has asked Royal Greenland's CEO Toke Binzer.

- Our negotiations with Polar Seafood ended because Polar Seafood announced that they would no longer be talking to us, he says.

The CEO is surprised that Sermitsiaq wrote in an article on April 17 that negotiations with Polar Seafood had broken down.

Bent Salling, CEO of Polar Seafood Greenland, confirmed at the time that the two fishing groups could not find a solution to save Polar Seafood's shrimp and fish factory from closure.

Bent Salling also confirmed that there was a breakdown in negotiations.

Binzer: - Large offer

But the matter is more nuanced, according to Toke Binzer. Because it was Polar Seafood that did not want to negotiate any more, even though Royal Greenland offered Polar Seafood to help with shrimp deliveries, he explains.

- Polar Seafood needed an extra quantity of shrimp, and the Greenlandic government wanted us to investigate the possibilities of meeting this need. We offered Polar Seafood to deliver half of the 4,000 tons of shrimp that they said this year would be in short supply at their factory in Aasiaat.

- But Polar Seafood had to find the other half of the shrimp themselves, we said. I think that was a quite a big offer.

- Royal Greenland was also prepared to look at halibut, so that we as a collective industry could find a solution that we could also see ourselves in.

- But Polar Seafood also said no to that. They did not want any more meetings with us, but instead a political solution to the matter regarding the factory in Aasiaat, says Toke Binzer.

What about Royal Greenland's shrimp factories in Sisimiut and Ilulissat in 2027 and 2028. Will they also lack supplies of shrimp?

- Yes, we will be in the same situation as Polar Seafood in Aasiaat next year. We already have closed days at the factories this year. It will probably be worse next year.

- We would therefore like to find a solution with Polar Seafood about the shrimp factories this year and, together with the politicians, find a solution for the halibut in the coming years. That could mean that both companies could be in a win-win situation, he says.

Offer swept off the table by Polar Seafood

Why should you help your biggest competitor at all?

- It is actually paradoxical. But the reason is that we are owned by the self-government. When the Government of Greenland asks us to find a solution, we do so, even if Royal Greenland in isolation does not gain anything from it.

- But when we then see that our offer is swept off the table by Polar Seafood, who say that they want the entire 5,000-ton halibut quota that the self-government would give to new players, it is difficult to find a solution that both parties can see themselves in, says Toke Binzer.

As previously described in Sermitsiaq, Royal Greenland and Polar Seafood have been negotiating since February this year.

- The industry needs to offer solutions, the challenges cannot be solved solely at the political level, wrote the Minister of Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture and Self-Sustainability, Peter Borg, in a press release at the end of February.

The Minister stated in a response to a paragraph 37 question from Atassut's member of Inatsisartut, Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen, that he was in ongoing dialogue with Polar Seafood about the Aasiaat factory.

At the same time, Peter Borg wrote that he had asked Polar Seafood and Royal Greenland to enter into a dialogue about "how they can possibly together ensure employment at the land-based facilities by continuing downward advice".

Those negotiations have now run into trouble.

Naalakkersuisut in close dialogue with Polar

Naalakkersuisut and Polar Seafood Greenland A/S are currently in close dialogue to ensure the supply of raw materials to the factory in Aasiaat in order to maintain employment.

This is stated by Naalakkersuisut in a press release on its website on 23 April.

According to the press release, the parties are working intensively in a constructive spirit and have agreed to try to find a joint solution for the benefit of all.

- The parties agree to find a solution as soon as possible out of respect for employees at the factory, affected companies and local communities to be able to have certainty about their future. The parties will issue a joint statement if a joint solution is found, it is further stated.

On April 17, Sermitsiaq asked the Prime Minister of Greenland, Peter Borg, for a comment on, among other things, the following:

That the negotiations between Polar Seafood Greenland and Royal Greenland have stopped - and according to Polar Seafood, broken down - as the two companies have not been able to find a commercial solution in the matter that is interesting to both parties.

However, for now, Peter Borg is silent and has not responded to Sermitsiaq's inquiry.