Mikhail Mishchenko: "I sold The DairyNews in Russia to a person I trust"
Source: The DairyNews
Now the former publisher of DairyNews.ru, Mikhail Mishchenko, has sold the online platform to Sergey Blyuma, head of the Continental Group and LLC Agromilk. In an interview with the portal, Mikhail Mishchenko candidly answered questions about his departure from Russia, the choice of the new publisher, and plans for the development of DairyNews.today abroad.
Mikhail, it has become known about the sale of the DairyNews.ru site in Russia. Can you tell us what prompted this step, given that you have devoted many years of painstaking work to this online platform?
My exit fr om the Russian segment is due to the current situation in the country and the fact that I cannot stay here. I ceased to be the publisher and owner of DairyNews.ru. I have been moving towards this step for quite some time - since the beginning of 2022.
We launched the DairyNews.ru online platform in Russia 16 years ago. Now it is a stable business; in the specialized food markets, it is the most successful independent publication with the largest audience in the country, contributing to the development of the dairy industry.
I believe that the person who acquired it is extremely lucky.
You sold The DairyNews in Russia to Sergey Blyuma - a well-known expert in the dairy industry of the Russian Federation, the head of several enterprises. Why did you choose him?
Yes, Sergey Blyuma became the publisher of DairyNews in Russia. Negotiations were held with many participants in the dairy market since the end of last year, and we were very prepared for the sale technically.
There were several important criteria for me. First, the ability of the new publisher to adopt our principle of work - independence, promptness, and expertise in providing information. Second, the potential publisher must be an independent expert in this market, able to independently assess the dairy agenda in Russia without taking sides.
Third, trust. It was very important for me that I could trust the person to whom I would pass on our immense achievements.
I have known Sergey Blyuma for many years, we are friends, and I can confidently say that I trust his competence, enterprise, independence, and readiness to take the helm of the ship we built, which is currently on a long voyage.
I wish Sergey success because working with the site is very challenging, 24/7, similar to the working mode on a livestock farm, wh ere it is also 24/7. Since Sergey has his own farm, he is familiar with this. I wish him success and am confident that he will achieve a lot.
In your opinion, what transformation awaits DairyNews.ru in Russia? How do you see the future of the online publication?
I am confident that it will be a successful and developing publication, and Sergey, as a creative person, will revive some projects that I could no longer support due to my departure from Russia, and he will come up with and implement his own based on what already exists.
I also believe that DairyNews.ru will continue to be a bridge between the Russian, Belarusian, and global dairy markets. I believe that Sergey has enough talent and courage to bring interesting news to the Russian industry and introduce what is happening in the global market.
The mission that I voluntarily took upon myself and carried out for 16 years has been fulfilled, and with a sense of duty fulfilled, I completely leave Russia. Sergey will take up the baton and make the publication even more interesting.
I will add that I am always in touch with the Russian audience, always keeping my finger on the pulse, and I have many friends in Russia. I am very glad that a large number of people read DairyNews.ru, they know my contacts, and they can always call me and discuss personal and professional topics.
Tell us about the projects you are currently working on and your plans.
I am leaving Russia, but I am not leaving the dairy market. We have been developing DairyNews.today for 2 years, which has already taken a strong position in the global dairy market, as well as in Central Asian countries.
I continue to be the publisher of DairyNews.today and continue to develop this large international platform. We have and will have publications in Russian because the Russian language is not limited to the borders of the Russian Federation; Russian-speaking readers are present worldwide. DairyNews.today actively works with the languages of Central Asia - Kazakh, Uzbek, as well as we publish in English, German, French, Chinese, and Arabic. I would like to note that within a month, a new "cool" project will be released on this platform in English, which, I believe, can greatly contribute to the development of the global dairy industry.
By the way, we have a very dynamically developing international audience, including the Middle East, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries.
I have always set myself the task of finding diffusion between different countries for the exchange of experience. In fact, I believe that we made a revolution in the information field of Russia, now we are creating a revolution in the international global market so that dairy farmers from different countries can freely communicate on our online platform. We have done a lot in this direction. We invented the Dairy Olympics, which united a large number of people from different countries and became one of the largest events in the world. By the way, the Dairy Olympics remain with me. This year it was held in Turkey, and next year it will be held in Dubai.
We will also continue to organize Auto Tours. In August this year, an auto tour will be held in Kyrgyzstan, and in December - in Australia.
We are in close contact with dairy unions from different countries. Our goal today is to become the official information portal of the entire global dairy industry. Last year we launched and will continue to develop with our partners the Central Asian Dairy Congress AqAltyn. We have great partners in different countries. For example, we signed a partnership agreement with the Turkish company IFCM, with which we will jointly implement projects in Turkey and beyond. We also plan to carry out several projects in China. We plan to create and hold the African Dairy Congress in 2025. So we have huge plans covering the whole world. Therefore, I invite everyone to participate in our events; I will always be glad to see everyone.
Thank you for the interview!
My exit fr om the Russian segment is due to the current situation in the country and the fact that I cannot stay here. I ceased to be the publisher and owner of DairyNews.ru. I have been moving towards this step for quite some time - since the beginning of 2022.
We launched the DairyNews.ru online platform in Russia 16 years ago. Now it is a stable business; in the specialized food markets, it is the most successful independent publication with the largest audience in the country, contributing to the development of the dairy industry.
I believe that the person who acquired it is extremely lucky.
You sold The DairyNews in Russia to Sergey Blyuma - a well-known expert in the dairy industry of the Russian Federation, the head of several enterprises. Why did you choose him?
Yes, Sergey Blyuma became the publisher of DairyNews in Russia. Negotiations were held with many participants in the dairy market since the end of last year, and we were very prepared for the sale technically.
There were several important criteria for me. First, the ability of the new publisher to adopt our principle of work - independence, promptness, and expertise in providing information. Second, the potential publisher must be an independent expert in this market, able to independently assess the dairy agenda in Russia without taking sides.
Third, trust. It was very important for me that I could trust the person to whom I would pass on our immense achievements.
I have known Sergey Blyuma for many years, we are friends, and I can confidently say that I trust his competence, enterprise, independence, and readiness to take the helm of the ship we built, which is currently on a long voyage.
I wish Sergey success because working with the site is very challenging, 24/7, similar to the working mode on a livestock farm, wh ere it is also 24/7. Since Sergey has his own farm, he is familiar with this. I wish him success and am confident that he will achieve a lot.
In your opinion, what transformation awaits DairyNews.ru in Russia? How do you see the future of the online publication?
I am confident that it will be a successful and developing publication, and Sergey, as a creative person, will revive some projects that I could no longer support due to my departure from Russia, and he will come up with and implement his own based on what already exists.
I also believe that DairyNews.ru will continue to be a bridge between the Russian, Belarusian, and global dairy markets. I believe that Sergey has enough talent and courage to bring interesting news to the Russian industry and introduce what is happening in the global market.
The mission that I voluntarily took upon myself and carried out for 16 years has been fulfilled, and with a sense of duty fulfilled, I completely leave Russia. Sergey will take up the baton and make the publication even more interesting.
I will add that I am always in touch with the Russian audience, always keeping my finger on the pulse, and I have many friends in Russia. I am very glad that a large number of people read DairyNews.ru, they know my contacts, and they can always call me and discuss personal and professional topics.
Tell us about the projects you are currently working on and your plans.
I am leaving Russia, but I am not leaving the dairy market. We have been developing DairyNews.today for 2 years, which has already taken a strong position in the global dairy market, as well as in Central Asian countries.
I continue to be the publisher of DairyNews.today and continue to develop this large international platform. We have and will have publications in Russian because the Russian language is not limited to the borders of the Russian Federation; Russian-speaking readers are present worldwide. DairyNews.today actively works with the languages of Central Asia - Kazakh, Uzbek, as well as we publish in English, German, French, Chinese, and Arabic. I would like to note that within a month, a new "cool" project will be released on this platform in English, which, I believe, can greatly contribute to the development of the global dairy industry.
By the way, we have a very dynamically developing international audience, including the Middle East, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries.
I have always set myself the task of finding diffusion between different countries for the exchange of experience. In fact, I believe that we made a revolution in the information field of Russia, now we are creating a revolution in the international global market so that dairy farmers from different countries can freely communicate on our online platform. We have done a lot in this direction. We invented the Dairy Olympics, which united a large number of people from different countries and became one of the largest events in the world. By the way, the Dairy Olympics remain with me. This year it was held in Turkey, and next year it will be held in Dubai.
We will also continue to organize Auto Tours. In August this year, an auto tour will be held in Kyrgyzstan, and in December - in Australia.
We are in close contact with dairy unions from different countries. Our goal today is to become the official information portal of the entire global dairy industry. Last year we launched and will continue to develop with our partners the Central Asian Dairy Congress AqAltyn. We have great partners in different countries. For example, we signed a partnership agreement with the Turkish company IFCM, with which we will jointly implement projects in Turkey and beyond. We also plan to carry out several projects in China. We plan to create and hold the African Dairy Congress in 2025. So we have huge plans covering the whole world. Therefore, I invite everyone to participate in our events; I will always be glad to see everyone.
Thank you for the interview!
