L 265/22 Official Journal of the European Union 5.9.2014 COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 950/2014 of 4 September 2014 opening a temporary exceptional private storage aid scheme for certain cheeses and fixing in advance the amount of aid THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (*), and in particular Article 219 (1) in conjunction with Article 228 therof, Whereas: (1) On 7 August 2014 the Russian government introduced a ban on imports of certain products from the Union to Russia, including dairy products. The most affected dairy product by the ban is cheese, given that exports to Russia represent 33 % of total Union cheese exports. Moreover, Russia is an exclusive trading partner for cheese for Finland and the Baltic countries and a significant destination for other Member States such as Germany, the Netherlands or Poland. (2)  Exports of cheeses to Russia amounted in 2013 to more than 250 000 tonnes, a quantity that risks having to be absorbed by the internal market in an important share, thus resulting in market imbalance and downwards price pressure. (3)  The market intervention measures available under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 do not appear to be sufficient for the situation recently created, since they are limited to cheeses with a geographical indication. (4)  The threat of a serious imbalance in the cheese market might be mitigated or eliminated by storage. It is therefore appropriate to grant aid for private storage of cheese and to fix the amount of aid in advance. (5)  Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 provides for the granting of private storage aid for cheeses bene- fiting from a protected designation of origin or from a protected geographical indication under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (). While cheeses with a geographical indication are affected by the import ban, they only represent a minimum share of the whole range of cheeses exported to Russia. For reasons of operational and administrative efficiency it is appropriate to set up a single private storage aid scheme covering all types of cheeses. (6) It is appropriate to exclude fresh cheeses which are not suitable for storage. (7)  As a general rule, to facilitate management and control, private storage aid should be granted only to operators established and registered for VAT purposes in the Union. (8)  To ensure that the arrangements can be monitored properly, the information needed to conclude the storage contract should be specified in this Regulation as well as the obligations of the contracting parties. (9)  In order to make the scheme more effective, contracts should relate to a certain minimum quantity and to the obligations to be fulfilled by the contracting party, in particular those enabling the competent authority respon- sible for checking storage operations to make an effective inspection of the storage conditions. (10)  Storage of the contractual quantity for the agreed period is one of the primary requirements for the granting of private storage aid. To take account of commercial practice and practical reasons, a margin of tolerance in respect of the quantity subject to aid should be allowed. (11)  To ensure that the storage is properly managed, it is appropriate to adopt provisions for reducing the amount of aid to be paid when the quantity stored during the contractual storage period is less than the contractual quantity and where the storage period is not fully observed. () OJL347,20.12.2013,p. 671. (%) Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs (O] L 343,14.12.2012, p. 1).