School Milk in Russia

The school milk programme in Russia was initiated in 2004 after the Russian Dairy Union (RDU) presented the idea to President Vladimir Putin. Due to the Russian legislation it was impossible to launch a nation wide programme, but the idea in general got the support at highest level of authority and started to be implemented at regional level.

There are 83 regions in Russia. According to RDU, 36 regions have School Milk programmes (2010). In 20 of the regions children receive white milk in TBA and TCA packages. Regional School milk programmes are subsidized from local budgets. School Milk programmes mainly cover children in primary schools. Children get milk 2-5 times per week during the school year. In most of the cases milk is fortified with vitamins, calcium and iodine.

Tetra Pak works in cooperation with RDU and dairy producers. Tetra Pak also arranges various events for school children. The School Milk day is celebrated in some regions of Russia and every year the number of such events increases.