Vietnam dairy export focus shifts to Russia Cheese and other milk products made in Vietnam may soon be sold nationwide in stores throughout Russia, which has become dairy deficient following the ban of Ukrainian and Western dairy products. Last month Vietnam-based TH Group announced it will invest US$2.7 billion to construct a 350,000 head dairy farm and related production facilities in Russia’s Moscow Oblast (Region). “This is the largest investment ever in the Russian dairy industry by a Vietnamese milk producer,” said Chairman Thai Huong of TH Group in reference to the joint venture with a Russian stakeholder. On the heels of that announcement, Vinamilk, its largest local competitor, unveiled on November 12 that it has embarked on a month-long aggressive promotional campaign to assess the market potential. “Were hoping to draw on our experience introducing our products in the European market,” said a Vinamilk official recently at a trade fair in Moscow. At the event the company introduced Ong Tho milk, Dielac powder milk, Vfresh fruit juice, Vinamilk ice-cream and Goldsoy soy milk and the preliminary results were very positive and the products well received. "We have started informal talks with Russian buyers and government authorities on getting commerce clearance,” he said, adding that if all goes well the company’s dairy brands could be lining the Russian shelves as early as next year.   He said, India, the world's largest milk producer, has now also set its sights and received approval to tap the US$30 million metric ton Russian market and the competition is expected to be fierce. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev introduced a one year ban on the import of beef, pork, poultry, fruit, vegetables, milk and dairy products from the EU, US, Australia, Canada, and Norway in August 2014. A month earlier a ban had been put in place on imports from the Ukraine, which had up until then been Russia’s dominant import market for milk and dairy products, accounting for the lion’s share of all dairy imports. In June 2015, Russia extended its ban on Western food imports until August 5, 2016. However, most leading market analysts don’t believe the Russian ban will be lifted until at least 2018. Speaking recently at the International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Mikhail Mischenko, editor in chief of the Russian website The Daily News, said Russia is unlikely to lift the ban until after the March 2018 election.    VOV