“Where there are beautiful women, there nice cheese should be”

VINNYTSIA – An Italian who has spent 2.5 years in prison in Ukraine, made a revamp there, and later was granted personal amnesty by the president has organized the production of Italian cheeses and opened a brand store.

Mozzarella, an Italian young cheese rolled in little white balls and soaked in brine, is like a woman: as a delicate product, it should be treated with love and care. And this Italian delicacy reveals the whole truth about Ukrainian milk, the main ingredient of Maurizio’s mozzarella, which he makes himself. The head and owner of the manufacturing facility shaped the oblong lumps of cheese with his hands. Two people are working here, and two more are learning the craft. The entire plant occupies two rooms — the production department and the administrative department. The latter includes the office and reception room. Maurizio uses the space sparingly.

“It took us half a year to find a supplier of pure milk which does not contain water or any chemical admixtures,” said Volodymyr Onyshchuk, the Ukrainian partner of the Italian cheese maker. “Even if the farm has all necessary certificates of quality, our lab shows quite different things. First of all, this affects the quality of mozzarella. Other cheeses don’t show it.”

According to Onyshchuk, when somebody says he can make mozzarella, these are mere words, for everything sold as mozzarella in Ukraine is boiled casein. Italian-produced mozzarella can be a quality product but it takes three to four days to deliver it to Ukraine. Maurizio keeps ready mozzarella for a day when he sells it. Therefore, Italian embassies and consulates send for cheese to Vinnytsia. They know Maurizio by name, especially after pleading with the president to grant pardon personally to their compatriot.

Maurizio once came across an Italian in a store who asked him to show the way from the border to his destination point in Ukraine. He said his car had arrived but he barely knew the Ukrainian roads. By the time Maurizio had lived in Ukraine for six years. When they approached the border, there were three cars awaiting them, and Maurizio had to drive one of them. Soon he was taken to a pre-trial prison as an accomplice in car contraband.

These adventures of an Italian in Ukraine received wide coverage in the Ukrainian press. After the trial Maurizio was placed in one of Zhytomyr’s prisons. This interior was new to him, and he asked for a permission to ‘renovate’ his cell at his own expense. For this he also fixed the prison’s medical unit. His motive was nothing extraordinary: “I’m a man, not a beast, to be kept in barracks.” His Ukrainian partner and friend brought the building materials, and the repair works were performed by the prisoners together with the Italian. After a 2.5-year-long imprisonment he was released owing to the personal pardon granted by the Ukrainian president.

Since then Maurizio has been making cheese, and he does not complain about the Ukrainian laws. However, he admits that we have too much red tape as compared to Italy. As for politics, he gives a short reply, “Speaking about it is the same as retrieving trash from a trash can.” However, in general, Maurizio notes that Ukraine is a wonderful country and that every Ukrainian has a head on his/her shoulders but their egoism is a problem in everything.

“The mentality of rejoicing at your neighbor’s problems should be replaced with eagerness to help,” he says. “When this happens, Ukraine will be the world’s most successful country, because you have extraordinary resources and hardworking and thinking people.” The Italian says that the Ukrainian authorities know how to help the Ukrainian business and improve the economy in general and the financial situation of each Ukrainian in particular. But according to Maurizio’s observations, change will only come with a new generation. “I understand your history and problems, but in order to have your culture totally changed, you should bring up your children differently,” he believes.

Maurizio’s Ukrainian partner is sure that we are 50 years behind Italy, both in terms of economy and life style. Maurizio has been living for in Ukraine12 years; his wife is from Vinnytsia. He says jokingly that women are among the reasons that have brought him to Ukraine. After the Chornobyl tragedy, Maurizio’s friends hosted Ukrainian children for rehabilitation, and the Italian went to see the children’s homeland. He liked it and stayed.

His Italian passport indicates his profession — a cheese maker. This is a great honor as it gives worldwide professional recognition. Cheese making is a family business in which Maurizio has been involved for 37 years. He is surprised to hear Ukrainian businessmen who tell him he should add food preservatives to cheese in order to extend its shelf life and increase his incomes.