OREANDA-NEWS  On 19 February Cherkizovo OJSC (LSE: CHE), one of Russia’s leading integrated and diversified meat producers announced that it has recently won several awards for its high quality products.

Last week, Cherkizovo was awarded the highest accolades for its meat and poultry products at the international “Best Product” Awards.  The awards were part of the ProdExpo International Food and Beverages Fair 2009, which is the largest annual food exhibition in Russia and Eastern Europe. Cherkizovo’s products won:

• Gold Medal - raw-cooked basturma and special sudjuk

• Silver Medal - Meat Nut, raw-smoked product made of chicken meat

• Bronze Medal -“Carpaccio” raw-smoked balyk made of beef.

Pleasingly, the well known Petelinka and Domashnyaa Kurochka poultry brands won:

• Gold Medal – chilled broiler chickens “Petelinka” and “Domashnyaa Kurochka”

• Bronze Medal – chilled chicken fillet “Petelinka”.

For a number of years the Petelinka and Domashnyaa Kurochka poultry brands have been recognized by the awards.

Sergei Mikhailov, CEO of Cherkizovo Group commented: “We are delighted that products from all of our divisions have been recognized for their quality product and consistency.  These awards reflect the professionalism of our team and the levels of excellence used to design and process these products. I am confident that in future we will continue to offer the consumer not only quality products that are well-known, but new and innovational products that will ensure brand loyalty”.

ProdExpo is one of the most significant events in the food industry in Russia and was attended by almost 2000 companies from 57 countries. The largest annual specialized exhibition in Russia and Eastern Europe, ProdExpo has determined the development of the domestic food industry for the last 15 years. It promotes high-quality foodstuffs to the domestic market and helps implement high-priority federal projects aimed at improving the quality of life of Russian citizens.