The stomach prevails - France wins at World Cup on Russian cheese

FILE PHOTO: Businessman and cheese maker Oleg Sirota attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia, June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor -/File Photo

DUBROVSKOYE, Russia (Reuters) - Russian businessman Oleg Sirota thinks he knows why the French soccer team got off to a winning start at the World Cup: he is supplying their hotel with cheese and yoghurt from his dairy.

Sirota opened his small "Russky Parmezan" factory in 2015 as a patriotic duty to keep Russians supplied after Moscow banned fresh food imports from western Europe. Now he says he has sold 400 kg (880 lb) of Kolmogorovsky - his answer to Dutch gouda - plus dozens of jars of yoghurt to the French base.