Norebo

The business started in the mid 1997 when Vitaly Orlov, a graduate from Murmansk High Marine School (now Murmansk State Technical University), joined efforts with Swedish entrepreneur Magnus Roth. They worked together at a Norwegian fish trading company Scandsea Int. AS which was buying fish from Russian fishing companies based in Murmansk in the North-Western part of Russia, close to Norway.[10]

In 1997 they created a new business with a 50/50 shareholding, a company called Ocean Trawlers A/S. Aside from buying fish, the company began to offer Norwegian trawlers for rent as a service called bareboat charter. This was crucial for the post-Soviet fishing industry, as old Soviet trawlers were very outdated and could not provide the required efficiency and quality of fish.[11]

By 2005 the Ocean Trawlers fleet already consisted of 14 such trawlers. During the subsequent 15 years, from 2005 to 2020, the company invested about 800 million US dollars of borrowed funds to buy fishing vessels and to acquire competitors in the North-West and Far East of Russia.

As of 2019, the Norebo holding consisted of 16 fishing companies.[12] Norebo is the biggest taxpayer and employer of Murmansk, a significant Russian Arctic stronghold situated within the boundaries of the Arctic Circle.

The Russian market is the biggest for Norebo, but its products can also be found all over Europe. One of Norebo’s partners is Danish food supplier Espersen, which processes Norebo's fish and delivers products to major retailers and restaurants in the European Union, including McDonald's.

Vitaly Orlov, ranked #90 in the Russian Forbes list, is the 100% shareholder of Norebo.[1]

In 2018, the High Court of Justice in London began to hear a dispute related to Norebo shareholding.[13]