Asian companies invest 4 billion dollars in Russian dairy production | Progresiv
In 2014, Russia banned many Western food imports, including dairy, in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine. Now Asian companies are investing around 4 billion dollars in milk and dairy production in Russia, to replace those imports. 
Vietnamese dairy producer TH Group broke ground on a major new milk farm and dairy facility in the Moscow region in mid-May as part of a 2.7 billion dollars 10-year project.
At a ceremony on 18 May, marking the start of construction, TH Group chairman Thai Huong, said: “The first stage, costing 500 million dollars, will lead to the production of 800 tonnes a day of milk and other products that are expected to reach the Russian market next year”.
Vietnam’s prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended the ground breaking ceremony of the first stage of TH Group’s 2.7 billion dollars hi-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project. He said: “The project will become a typical agricultural co-operation project between Vietnam and Russia, further contributing to the two countries’ bilateral co-operation.”
TH’s chairwoman Thai Huong said that this project has received great support from Russia’s government. “Russia is reforming its agricultural sector via a series of incentives for investors. And now we are here to help Russia further develop its milk industry. We hope that TH true Milk will become a big brand name in Russia,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the state-backed Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has signed an agreement with Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) and China’s Banner Infant Dairy Products on joint investments in the construction of a $1 billion milk and dairy complex in the Ryazan region of Russia. According to RDIF, its total annual production capacity will be 400,000 tonnes of milk, cheese and sour-milk products. (www.foodbev.com)
