Several media outlets in Israel reported last week that Tnuva, the country's largest dairy processor, is seeking to take advantage of the one-year Russian ban on the import of beef, pork, fruit, vegetables, cheese, and milk from the European Union (EU), US, Australia, Canada, and Norway.
It was reported that inspectors from the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhozadzor) visited several dairy processing facilities in Israel in October.
A delegation of Tnuva executives also traveled recently to Russia, it is claimed.
Around 250,000 tonnes of cheese, worth €980m (US$1.3bn), was exported from the 28 EU Member States to Russia in 2013. Australia, Norway, and the US also exported cheese to Russia in 2013, but in smaller amounts.
Israel, unaffected by the Russian embargo, appears primed to help fill the cheese gap left by the EU.
Tel Aviv-based Tnuva declined to comment on the reports when approached by DairyReporter.com.
This publication understands, however, that Tnuva is in the early stages of establishing channels to export cheese to Russia.
A source said that while nothing is in stone, Tnuva is exploring the possibility of selling its products in Russia for the first time.
Just three Israeli firms are currently approved by Rosselkhozadzor to export to Russia. All three licenses relate, however, to the export of fish.
This is unlikely, however, to present a problem for Tnuva.
Since the ban on the import of Western agricultural products came into force on August 7, Russia has been scrambling to fill the resulting food deficit.
In the last two months, Rosselkhoznadzor officials have carried out inspections at plants in Thailand, Montenegro, Turkey, and the Philippines, and held talks with counterparts in counties including Iceland, Brazil, and Pakistan.
A team of Rosselkhoznadzor inspectors is this week in India to conduct checks at several dairy plants.
It is unclear if the plants in question are operated by Indian dairy giant Amul, which reportedly held talks on the sale of cheese and milk powder with Russian dairy Galactika.