You're reading: Ukraine, Russia agree to settle cheese problem (updated)

Russia is ready to lift restrictions on the import of cheese from Ukraine, according to Ukrainian Economic Development and Trade Minister Petro Poroshenko.

"Limitations by Russia on [the import] of hard and semi-hard cheeses made in Ukraine will be lifted after all the problems pointed out by the Russian side during checks on (Ukrainian cheese producers) are corrected," he said at a news briefing after talks with the director of the Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor and Russia’s chief epidemiologist, Gennady Onishchenko, in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Onishchenko expressed hope that the talks would help the Ukrainian and Russian sides reach "constructive understanding" of how to settle the problem with Ukrainian cheese supplies to Russia.

"I’d like to hope that the talks we’ve held today at the Agrarian Policy Ministry and the Economic Development Ministry would help us stop milling the wind and finally reach constructive understanding [in the issue of Ukrainian cheese imports]," he said.

Onishchenko recalled that Rospotrebnadzor experts had checked Hadiachsyr, a Ukrainian cheese-maker, pointed at certain problems, which, as the Russian side expects, are to be corrected soon, and the company will receive permission for supplies of its products to Russia.

He added that Rospotrebnadzor is planning to check two more Ukrainian cheese producers, which were also barred from importing cheese to Russia, next week.

Onishchenko stressed that the terms of opening the Russian market to Ukrainian cheese depend on how fast the Ukrainian side corrects the problems pointed out by the experts from Russia.

In turn, Poroshenko promised that Ukraine would "demonstrate quick progress" in meeting all the requirements.

A group of Rospotrebnadzor experts arrived in Ukraine on March 26, 2012, to check the companies that plan to supply cheese onto the Russian market.

As reported, on Feb. 7, 2012, Russia banned imports of cheese made by some of Ukrainian producers to that country due to a lack of compliance of their products with the Russian technical regulations regarding milk and dairy foods.

"The sale of a total of 32 tonnes of cheese has been suspended on the Russian territory," Onishchenko told Interfax in March. Up to 120 tonnes of Ukrainian cheese more were seized on the border, according to him.

Onishchenko told Interfax on February 27 that Ukraine had more than halved its cheese exports to Russia following Rospotrebnadzor’s complaints about the quality of these products.

On March 3, Onishchenko informed that Russia had completed examining documents of some Ukrainian companies that supplied cheese products to Russia. Rospotrebnadzor notified Ukraine of its willingness to inspect the compliance of their foods with Russian quality standards on the spot.