Russia: SABMiller to boost Russia output 50% with new brewery

SABMiller will increase beer production in Russia by 50 percent with a second brewery and may double output should the demand exist, said James Wilson, chief of operations in Russia, according to Bloomberg, June 13.

The new plant in the Ulyanovsk region will produce an annual 3 million hectoliters of beer and will be able to brew more than double that, equaling SABMiller’s current Russian output, Wilson said in an interview Saturday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The brewery, which will cost 170 million euros ($227 million) to build, should begin operations in 2009.

“Russia is an important market,’’ Wilson said before signing a construction agreement with Ulyanovsk Governor Sergei Morozov. “We’ve continued to expand the existing brewery and now it’s the right time to choose the second one.’’