OREANDA-NEWS. June 23, 2009.  Gomel oblast executive committee hosted a session on expanding dairy exports. Partaking in the meeting were representatives of the processing companies of the Poltava oblast. The session considered a set of issues necessary for setting up joint Belarusian-Ukrainian ventures.

“We are going to develop our cooperation with the dairies of the Poltava oblast through a several-stage plan,” said Valentin Bobok, chairman of the agriculture and food committee of the oblast executive committee. “The first stage, namely, big consignments of concentrated milk to Ukraine, will start this week. Later on Belarus and Ukraine will set up a joint venture to sell the Belarusian dairy products in Ukraine. The third stage will be a joint venture in Belarus formed by the processing companies in Rogachev and Kalinkovichi,” he explained.

This year the dairies of the Gomel oblast have been actively developing cooperation with their Ukrainian partners. For example, Gomelmyasomolprom and Zhitomir Creamery have set up the Belarusian-Ukrainian Joint Venture. In July this company is going to open its chain store in the oblast centre.

In the Poltava oblast there are five dairies, three cheese dairies, three concentrated milk factories and two creameries. The GadyachSyr Company, the largest among them, accounts for up to 8% of the Ukrainian cheese market.