Common ground found on cheese trade tiff

The head of Russia’s consumer rights watchdog Hennadiy Onischenko and Ukraine’s Economy Minister Petro Poroshenko agreed on a resolution to the current cheese trade conflict, both parties announced after a meeting yesterday in Kyiv. Both sides said the ban on Ukrainian cheese imports will be lifted as soon as Ukrainian producers resolve a number of technical issues as requested by the Russian agency.The Russian regulator has scheduled an inspection of two Ukrainian cheese plants for next week, most likely including one of Milkiland’s (MLK PW) plants.

Yegor Samusenko: This is the first time since the start of the trade tiff that officials from both countries are sending out the same message. This adds weight to expectations that the ban will indeed be lifted as soon as the technical requirements are met. The chances, then, that the ban will be lifted earlier than we had expected (July 2012) are high – encouraging for Milkiland, our top pick in the consumer sector.