Baltic States – CIS, Foodstuff, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Russia

Audrius Statulevicius, CFO at Pieno Zvaigzdes, says he doesn’t know if the contract will be signed. In his words, the company is constantly looking for partners in Russia but it's hard to find producers capable of producing high-quality products.

"The talks are ongoing but it's a constant process as we are looking for producers with an unacceptable level of quality and negotiating. It will depend on circumstances on whether we'll expand to Russia," Statulevicius said.

BNS Lithuania reminds that Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, citing a statement by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Products of Moscow Region, reported in February that Pieno Zvaigzdes planned to invest around 1 billion roubles (around 14.1 million euros) into a cheese plant in Dmitrov, Moscow Region, with an annual capacity of 12,000 tons. It should start operating next year.

Pieno Zvaigzdez then denied these reports, and Statulevicius told BNS Lithuania in February that his company had contacts with the ministry's representatives but underlined that the company did not make any commitments to invest in Russia.

In Aug. 2014, Russia banned imports of food and agricultural products, including dairy products, from the European Union and other Western countries. Before the embargo, Pieno Zvaigzdes used to export 30-35 percent of its products to Russia, with Svalia cheese being on of the company's most popular products.