Russia returns tough monitoring of Milkiland cheese plant

The Russian consumer rights state agency Rospotrebnadzor, reported on June 11 that it found antibiotics in cheese imports from Ukraine, said the Kommersant-Ukrayina newspaper. One of the two producers identified belongs to Milkiland (MLK PW). “A regime of intensified laboratory monitoring is being applied to the products of the indicated companies,” the state agency said. That involves mandatory reviews instead of random ones, which can stop if no violations are noticed for three months.

Russia is the biggest export market for Ukrainian cheese producers and has implemented numerous restrictions in recent years. Most recently, a ban was slapped on Ukrainian cheese for February-May 2012.

Alexander Paraschiy: Tougher quality control over just one of Milkiland’s cheese plants may not have any implications for the company’s (and the plant’s) export volumes. It’s just another indicator of how tough and risky the Russian market is for Ukrainian producers – yet a phenomenon that Milkiland investors are accustomed to. They were unfazed by the news as Milkiland shares (MLK PW +3.5%) were part of an agri-rally on the WIG Ukraine Index yesterday.