Deliveries of Lithuanian dairy products to the Russian market are expected to resume in January, an industry source familiar with the situation told Interfax on Thursday.
«Their return will be a stage-by-stage process,» he said.
Dairy imports to Russia from one of Lithuania’s enterprises may receive the green light soon, the source said.
«The deliveries are expected to begin in January,» he added.
Anna Popova, acting head of Russia’s consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, told reporters on December 24 that Imports of Lithuanian dairy products could be resumed to the Russian market.
«I can note the Lithuanian side’s highly positive attitude to the complaints that were made by us following an inspection. Its approach to correcting them is very serious,» Popova said.
«Documents are currently being prepared that would permit deliveries of these products to Russian territory,» she said.
Russia suspended imports of Lithuanian dairy products on October 7 over quality concerns.
On October 11, Gennady Onishchenko, who headed Rospotrebnadzor at that time, met with a Lithuanian delegation in Moscow.
He said that Lithuanian dairy producers had a chance to return to Russia’s market.
Rospotrebnadzor specialists visited Lithuania at the end of October and suggested a number of measures that should be taken in order to allow the resumption of Lithuanian dairy imports to Russia.
The prime ministers of Russia and Lithuania discussed this issue on October 30.
Rospotrebnadzor reported on November 1 that it had received Lithuania’s documents concerning its dairy products and it was optimistic about the possibility of allowing Lithuanian dairy imports back to Russia.
Lithuania promised on December 18 that it would step up oversight over the quality of its dairy products intended for the Russian market.
Source: Voice of Russia