A spokeswoman for Russia’s Moscow Oblast’s agricultural ministry said earlier Pieno žvaigždės could produce 12,000 tonnes of cheese per year starting next year, a move that would bypass a ban on some food imports.

“We inform that recent publications in the media that AB Pieno žvaigždės intends to invest in the Russian Federation and build a new cheese production factory are not correct”, Chief Financial Officer Audrius Statulevičius said in a statement.

“The company AB Pieno žvaigždės does not have such plans in the near future”.

Russia is switching to producing more dairy products locally after the government banned some Western foods in 2014, including most dairy products, in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow for its role in the Ukraine crisis.

The ban has hit European dairy and other food producers, some of which have opened or expanded food production in Russia, including Finland’s Valio.

Russian business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday that the Lithuanian company might invest 1 billion rubles (RM68 million) in the Moscow project.