Kragujevac-based Kuc dairy signs first export agreement with Russia - Deal worth EUR 1 million

Kragujevac-based Kuc dairy has signed the first export agreement with Russia, worth EUR 1 million.

- We will deliver first shipment of products by the end of May, that is, two shipments will be delivered every month, each worth between 45,000 and 60,000 euros - Jezdimir Kuc, owner and director of Kuc dairy, told Beta news agency.

The deal with Russia has been concluded after Kuc dairy was issued a certificate enabling it to export goods to Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus free of duty. Such permit has already been issued to six dairies in Serbia.

Mr. Kuc said that the partner company Meat&Milk from St. Petersburg was interested in importing "spreads", kashkaval and feta cheese, which were part of the key product portfolio of the dairy in Kragujevac, so that conditions were being created for tripling the capacities.

According to the agreement with the Russian partner, the company will first be exporting yogurt and sour cream to check the sales capacity in the market of Russia.

Mr. Kuc announced that the dairy with 150 employees and the daily processing capacity of 63 tonnes of milk would introduce the second and the third shift and employ additional 20 workers over the next year because of the new export deal.

- This is the right moment for export deals because the conditions of sale offered by large market chains in the domestic market are not that good and make it difficult to survive in the market - said Mr. Kuc.

According to his words, the dairy Kuc purchases two thirds of milk it processes from 300 manufacturers from Sumadija and part of Pomoravlje.

Kuc dairy has 600 Simmental milk cows on its farm in Lapovo where a reproduction center was opened in 2007 to enable growing of 250 to 300 heifers a year.

Kuc dairy sells its products in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.