Milk Serum from Iran is the Cause: Which Companies Used It? - 'Hraparak'

As of April 5, the supply of dairy products from Armenia to Russia has been suspended at Russia's request. The official reason is that Iranian-origin raw materials have been found in dairy products imported from Armenia, reports 'Hraparak'.

The publication states: 'Two weeks have passed. The Armenian Food Safety Inspection Authority and Rosselkhoznadzor, which are currently in negotiations, have agreed to gradually resolve the issue. The Armenian organizations that produce and export dairy, which only operate with local and Russian-approved raw materials, are invited by the FSIA to apply for inspections at their companies. Those organizations that meet the established requirements will be presented to Rosselkhoznadzor for consideration. The FSIA has informed us that there are already applicants, and inspections will begin tomorrow. 'The process will be phased. The law allows us to conduct inspections based on our planned inspections program, in case of complaints or if an organization has applied to us and is ready for inspections to be carried out at their premises,' said a spokesperson for the FSIA.

The results of the FSIA's inspections will be sent to the Russian inspection body, which will determine the issue of lifting the ban. However, the FSIA has not disclosed which companies' dairy products contained Iranian raw materials as detected by Rosselkhoznadzor. According to our information, three companies are mentioned in the documents of the Russian inspection authority: 'Mariana', 'Yerevan Kat' and one of the dairy producers from Gyumri. It should be noted that 'Yerevan Kat' is the same as 'Mariana'. 'Mariana' refused to answer our questions, stating that their director is not in the country and no one else can answer questions on their behalf.

We spoke with one of the directors of the 'Igith' company, who said they do not use Iranian raw materials, but many Armenian companies do. 'A couple of companies have suffered, but everyone has been affected. Our company's exports made up 10 percent, but regardless, we have been hurt. We had a partner in Krasnodar to whom we were sending unblemished products for sale, so why should we suffer now? That 10 percent is significant for us,' said a representative of 'Igith'.

Could it be that the Russian ban has political motives as a punishment for joining the Hague Court's statute and the intention to arrest Putin? 'No, there are no political motives,' believes the dairy producer, 'they are protecting their market, where dairy production is of strategic importance. The Iranian raw material is milk serum in frozen form, from which butter is made. But when it was produced and how long the serum has been stored is unknown to anyone.'

We wanted to speak with former FSIA head Gevorg Avetisyan on the topic of milk, to ask who in Armenia is producing dairy with Iranian raw materials, how the products were certified, and exported to Russia, but he said he could not answer these questions, claiming to be unaware of anything. It was almost as if he claimed he had never worked as the head of the FSIA; perhaps he was just a guard there.'