MOSCOW, May 23 - RIA Novosti. On August 28, Nestle Russia is planning to open a Nestle Purina PetCare factory to produce pet food in Vorsino, Kaluga Region, said Nestle's director general for the Russian market Bernard Meunier at a news conference Wednesday.
Investment in the project at the construction stage will amount to $20 million. The new factory will be the company's 14th facility in Russia.
Nestle Purina PetCare will produce dry pet food, including Friskies and Darling brands of cat and dog food. The company will use local raw materials and packaging.
The factory will annually produce about 40,000 metric tons of products to be sold in Russia and CIS countries, including Ukraine, Meunier said.
Nestle Group was founded in 1866, and has its headquarters in Switzerland. The company mostly produces foods and also owns stakes in perfume and cosmetics manufacturing companies and in pharmaceutical firms. The company has 487 factories and production facilities in 86 countries.
Nestle Food Russian subsidiary was set up in 1995. This year, the company was named "Nestle Russia." At present, it has 14 production facilities and constantly invests in them. Nestle products are prominent on the coffee, chocolate, baby food and ice-cream markets.
Bernard Meunier said the company had invested a total of about $600 million in the Russian economy over 12 years of Nestle's presence on the Russian market. The company's annual investments in Russia amount to about $50 million, and they will be maintained at about the same level in future, he said.
In 2007 Nestle Group subsidiaries in Russia are planning to increase sales by 14.3% from the 2006 figure, to $1.6 billion. Their sales amounted to $1.4 billion last year. Bernard Meunier said by 2010 the company was planning to double its business against the 2005 figure of $1 billion.
