Russia: Russian beer-maker, Krasny Vostok, might sell a stake of its company to a foreign investor, according to a Russian press statement published on February 15. Krasny Vostok is valued between US$ 800 million US$ 1 billion, experts said. Krasny Vostok, which brews Krasny Vostok, Solodov and Czech Standard beer brands, owns 4 breweries with a production capacity of 12 million hl of beer per year. The company controlled 4.19% of Russian beer market and sold 5.7 million hl of beer in 2004, EBITDA – USD 56.7 million.

The report suggested that the most probable contenders would be either Anheuser-Busch or Molson Coors, neither of which have production facilities in Russia yet. SABMiller and Heineken have said that they are not interested, the newspaper added. Other sources said that SABMiller stocks dropped 1.1%, or 9p, to 816p on talk that it may bid for a stake in privately owned Russian regional brewer Krasny Vostok.

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