The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to buy 40% of shares in Pokrovsky Glass Plant, which produces beer bottles in Vologda region, Russia, director of the plant“s supervisor…
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to buy 40% of shares in Pokrovsky Glass Plant, which produces beer bottles in Vologda region, Russia, director of the plant“s supervisory committee Alexei Ivanishev said. The cost of the deal is estimated at US$ 8 million – $10 million. It is planned to use the revenue from the sale to develop production, which will allow the plant to reach a production capacity of up to 250 million bottles per annum by mid-2001. The plant currently has a production capacity of 100 million bottles per year. Ivanishev said the decision to sell the shares has already been made, and that the EBRD and plant management are currently working on the necessary documents. If the project goes according to plan, then the plant will begin construction and installation of new equipment at the beginning of 2000. According to Ivanishev, the plant will produce 79 million bottles this year, compared with 73.9 million bottles in 1998 (55.1 million in 1997). He added that increased production is due to increased beer production in Russia, and that Russian beer producers continue to use glass bottles for beer. Pokrovsky Glass Plant was set up 160 years ago and privatized in 1994. By the beginning of the 1990“s the plant was producing 40 million bottles per year. One of the company“s largest customers is Baltika, which buys 60%-70% of the plant“s bottles.