Korolev (Russia) (AFP)

It was in her kitchen on the outskirts of Moscow that Elvira Kovtoun, then housewife, made her first cheese. Four years later, she led a flourishing business, driven by the sanctions that Russians and Westerners impose on each other.

The Peshernyi hard cheese she produces with her husband won gold last month at the 32nd edition of the prestigious World Cheese Awards, a first for a Russian cheese.

"I did not think it was possible," enthuses the happy husband, Viatcheslav Kovtoun, receiving AFP in the small creamery located in the industrial city of Korolev, near Moscow.

Beyond this personal success of the couple, their cheese dairy illustrates the progress of some branches of the Russian agri-food sector since Vladimir Putin has decreed an embargo on many Western products, in retaliation for the sanctions taken in 2014 against Moscow because of the Ukrainian crisis.

For the past five years, the Russian government has made great efforts to develop substitutes for imports. In many areas, the results are highly questionable, especially in pharmacy or technology, where quality and price problems arise.

But for the agri-food sector, it was a gift from heaven. Many artisanal creameries have been created to make up for the lack. The same phenomenon was observed for fruits and vegetables, released from the competition of products like Polish apples or Dutch tomato.

According to the Russian Dairy Association, production of cheese and cheese products increased by one third between 2013 and 2018, to 670,000 tonnes per year.

Last week, Vladimir Putin said he was "somewhat worried" when the first punitive measures targeted Moscow, but he was now satisfied with "very serious and convincing results." "All these restrictions went in favor of our economy," he said.

- "Cheese rush" -

Elvira and Viatcheslav, both 40, are the first to be surprised by the dazzling success of their Beer & Cheese creamery opened in 2018.

Already, the demand is greater than their production capacity. Drowned under orders, their distinguished cheese at the World Cheese Awards is sold out until April, the Peshernyi, with its accents of nuts and fruit, maturing in seven months.

The couple produces about twenty varieties, including a kind of Camembert and another approaching brie fragrant truffles.

"I can not live a single day without cheese, these are my babies," breathed Elvira, speaking like a long-time artisan.

John Farrand, the director of the Guild of Fine Food who organizes the contest, even notes the "true sense of terroir" of Kovtoun. However, Russia, heiress of the Soviet Union, has little experience of craftsmanship, the USSR has largely favored industrial and standardized products, devastating the old know-how.

The lack of cheese tradition could nevertheless turn into an advantage, as Russian cheese makers are "freed from the pressure of tradition, the artisans of the country can innovate," notes Mr. Farrand.

The Kovtoun have also won the praise of their competitor Oleg Sirota, the most famous cheese producer in Russia, who at the age of 31 is also running the Russian Cheese Union, the sector's lobby.

He recounts that Viatcheslav Kovtoun approached him in 2016 at a service station to tell him that he wanted to sell his construction company to learn.

It is now done, to the great satisfaction of Mr. Sirota: "The more we have good creameries, the more people will trust us," said the young man, who also won an award in October in another international competition in France.

Today, Mr Sirota and the Kovtouns plan to grow their respective businesses and thank the embargo of Vladimir Putin which caused this unexpected "cheese rush".

"We did not invent anything new," says Vyacheslav Kovtoun. "Russia produced a lot of cheese a hundred years ago and exported it to Europe and the Baltic, we revive the recipes of our ancestors".

© 2019 AFP