Novosibirsk producers question reported 4.3% rise in regional milk processing

Speaking to Infopro54, Yeliseyenko offered a calculation: spreading the published volume across the days of the first nine months of 2026 would put daily processing above 1,000 tonnes. In his assessment, the region's plants do not have that combined capacity, even after the opening of EkoNiva's production facility, which is gradually increasing its capacity utilization. According to the head of MolSib, there were no other major dairy processing facilities launched in the region in 2026.

Yeliseyenko suggested that milk being counted twice during primary processing could explain the discrepancy. He cited PepsiCo's operations as an example: the company purchases raw milk in the region but processes only part of the volume collected at its Novosibirsk plant. After pasteurization, most of it is sent to Rubtsovsk in Altai Territory, where it is used to produce cheese and whey powder.

Yeliseyenko also recalled the three-month restrictions imposed under a pasteurellosis quarantine. During that period, meat and raw milk, including milk that had undergone pasteurization, could not be shipped out of the region. In March, representatives of processing plants were invited to a meeting with the governor and asked to use all available capacity to take in milk.

According to Yeliseyenko, the plants brought all their drying equipment into operation and increased the processing of raw milk into butter, tvorog curd cheese and other products. Prices for the resulting products fell substantially, he noted. By the time of the interview, he believed the situation had returned to normal and processing volumes had declined again: agricultural producers' warehouses were full of milk powder and butter. Milk production also saw a seasonal decline in autumn.

According to the chairman of SOYUZMOLOKO.Siberia, agricultural producers are now freely shipping milk outside the region, including unpasteurized raw milk. Experts had already highlighted a shortage of local processing capacity in 2023, when 1,000 tonnes of milk were being shipped out of the region daily.

The Siberian cheese market also saw a shift in companies' market positions in 2026, with nationwide players gradually displacing local producers.