CEE round-up
checks on Polish dairies, the sale of one of the largest yeast
manufacturers in Poland and plans by Vietnamese tea producers to
increase exports to Russia.
Russian inspectors begin checking Polish dairiesRussian veterinary inspectors have begun inspection tours of 75 dairies wishing to export their products to Russia - the culmination of a longstanding battle by Polish authorities and dairy manufacturers to try and speed the process up.
Polish dairy companies still supply a significant amount of heavily processed dairy products to the Russian market, and claim that the Russian authorities' failure to implement new dairy inspections fast enough has been costing them millions of euros.
The Russian Veterinary Service confirmed that the eight inspectors have now started carrying out their duties in Poland and should have all inspections completed by 4 November. The authorities added that the inspectors will be split into three groups who will work on a regional basis.
Four bidders interested in Polish yeast business
Four bidders are said to be in the running for leading Polish yeast manufacturer Drozdzownia, a subsidiary of the Polmos Jozefow distillery.
According to News2Biz Poland, the bidders include two Polish companies, Kanex and Drozdzownia Lublin, German-owned bakery additives producer BAU-Mit and the Turkish-owned European-wide yeast manufacturer Akmaya.
The state-owned Drozdzownia currently has a ten per cent slice of the Polish yeast market, making it an attractive proposition to any players wanting to increase their presence in the bakery segment.
Vietnam eyes 10 per cent slice of Russian tea market
Vietnamese authorities say they are planning to take a 10 per cent slice of the Russian tea market by 2010, pushing up exports to 15,000 tonnes per year.
According to the Vietnam Tea Association its tea exports to Russia in 2003 represented 4,464 tonnes of tea, a figure that was up by 30 per cent on the previous year. Although the figure is small compared to total Russian tea imports of nearly 200,000 in 2003, the growth represents a thriving trade between the two nations and highlights Vietnam's development as a world tea trader. Currently Vietnam is the world's eighth largest tea producer.
The plans to increase exports of tea stem from an agreement concluded with the association of Russian tea and coffee producers back in July. The agreement sort to overcome existing difficulties that were being encountered by Vietnamese tea exporters trying to export into Russia.
