foccusser

Russian Cheese King to Italy: Recognize Crimea to Export Parmesan Again

Italy should recognize Crimea as Russian territory before being allowed to export parmesan into the country again, the head of Russia’s cheesemakers union said Sunday.

Russia banned wholesale imports of fresh EU food produce including parmesan in retaliation to Western sanctions over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. 

Italian Ambassador to Moscow Pasquale Terracciano on Friday urged Russia to exclude parmesan from its food ban in an interview with Forbes Russia, arguing that its negligible amount of lactose makes it a non-dairy product.

Oleg Sirota, chairman of the Russian cheesemakers’ union and one of the food embargo’s most vocal proponents, responded that allowing parmesan imports would “bankrupt” budding homegrown parmesan producers and be “morally wrong.”

“Let them recognize Crimea, lift sanctions from Crimea and all the companies [first],” said Sirota, who owns a cheese farm outside Moscow, in an interview with the independent Dozhd broadcaster.

In an earlier interview with the Govorit Moskva radio station Friday, Sirota called Ambassador Terracciano’s words “cunning because they realize they will soon lose the Russian market forever.”

Russian authorities have insisted that the sanctions have allowed it to develop its domestic industries including farming thanks to substantial subsidies. Sirota estimates that domestic dairy production has grown by 25% since 2014.

Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s consumer protection watchdog who Ambassador Terracciano said was looking into excluding parmesan from the ban, said it was not authorized to pick products to strike off the food embargo list.

“Without injury to the tender feelings I have for my Italian colleagues, I want to say that I like Russian cheeses,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

President Vladimir Putin late last year extended the embargo until the end of 2021.

(c) Moscow Times

15 comments

  1. “Without injury to the tender feelings I have for my Italian colleagues, I want to say that I like Russian cheeses,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

    You don’t have an option to say any thing else Maria, enjoy your Russian parmesan, along with your Russian whine.

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  2. ‘In an earlier interview with the Govorit Moskva radio station Friday, Sirota called Ambassador Terracciano’s words “cunning because they realize they will soon lose the Russian market forever.”
    Equally cunning are the psychotic criminals who run the murder gang that passes off for a government in the national socialist state of putlerstan.
    They know from long experience that exporter countries such as Italy, Germany and France want access to the wealthy putlerstanis that want to drive Beemers, drink French wine and eat Italian cheese. It is most helpful to them that all three of those despicable countries are crawling with putinoid scum in politics, the media and their general public. They don’t give a flying fuck about Ukraine because they believe that Ukrainians are just Russians who haven’t yet realised that they are Russians.

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  3. It’s telling that mafia land will resort to blackmail seeing that it is a crime syndicate run by low-down criminal scum. And, only low-down criminal scum will fall for this illegal scheme.

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  4. No water.
    No electric.
    No Toilets.

    But you’re complaining there’s a lack of Parmesan.

    #FirstWorldproblems.

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  5. Anyone that buys ready made sauce and Pasta in some kind of ‘kit’ deserves all they get.

    Pamesello included.

    That’s like the equivalent of Vegan Salo.

    or Fucking Borsch in a ‘Just add water packet.’

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    • Which ones? The ones who vote for putler-grovelers like Berlusconi and Conte? I assume you are being ironic Tonto?

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