YEREVAN, May 12 (Noyan Tapan). 50 out of 110 tons of the expected production of the "Dustr Melania" factory in Tashir (Lori) will be exported to Moscow and the United States. The first consignment (15 tons) of the enterprise's production was exported to Moscow in March, manager Ruben Haroutiunian told Noyan Tapan. As many as 80 tons of cheese were produced last year out of which 50 tons of cheese of different sorts were exported to Moscow and 6 tons to the United States with the assistance of the the Marketing Assistance Project (MAP) of the USDA, Haroutiunian said.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador Vivien Walker and the director of the Marketing Assistance Project Alan Lines handed the certificates on the graduation to the third group of the "Varpet Panragorts" ("Master-Cheese-Maker") school fuctioning at the plant premises on May 11. Two-week-long retraining courses were organized for eight cheese-makers with the assistance of the MAP.
Armenian cheeses are on the par with foreign counterparts both according to their taste and quality and they will be considered as the best on the US market in the years to come, Ms. Walker said. As many as 25 cheese-makers have passed the retraining courses at the school since last year, while another 12 student of the Armenian Agricultural Academy will participate in the courses staring next month. Georgian cheese-makers are also expected to pass retraining at the school.