Russians boycott Valio products manufactured in Estonia

Anger continues over statue dispute

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Atlet cheese and Gefilus yoghurt manufactured by the Finnish dairy company Valio in Estonia have been blacklisted by the Molodaya Gvardija ("Young Guard") organisation in St. Petersburg.
      The organisation is the youth association of Russia's largest party, United Russia.
      On Monday, members of the group attached a list of products that it says should be boycotted to the wall of the Estonian Consulate in St. Petersburg. The local news agency Fontanka says that the list includes Vana Tallinn liqueur, chocolates, cheeses, and Valio yoghurt.
     
At Valio, Mika Koskinen, the company's director responsible for operations in Russia, admits that the company's products imported from Estonia are on the boycott list. Most of the Valio products imported into Russia are manufactured in Finland.
      However, Gefilus yoghurt and Atlet cheese is produced at Estonian factories, and Atlet cheese sells very well in Russia.
     
Valio has a cheese factory in Vöru, in Estonia, and a dairy in Laeva. Koskinen says that the Russian boycott can already be felt at the Estonian production facilities.
      Some shops in St. Petersburg have taken Estonian products off the shelves, but at least in one market in the north of the city, Hiir cheese and other Estonian cheeses sold normally. In a neighbouring market, Viola cheese, a Valio import from Finland, was for sale.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Kanerva in Estonia: Events in Moscow serious (3.5.2006)
  COMMENTARY: "Oh, sorry, I thought you were Estonian" (2.5.2007)
  Finnish PM denounces Russian demands for resignation of Estonian government (2.5.2007)
  Tallinn memorial: Vanhanen emphasises non-interference, Kanerva calls for EU solidarity (30.4.2007)
  Soviet memorial in Tallinn moved after night of rioting (27.4.2007)

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