Heineken looks to Russia to compensate sales slump

Related tags Russia

Heineken, the third biggest brewery in the world, plans to purchase
some more breweries in Russia due to sales decrease in Western
Europe.

The group's financial director Rene Hufta Graflanda said that the company plans to perform a number of acquisitions in order to increase its market share from 7.5 per cent - and Eastern Europe is a prime target.

This year the company decided to purchase six companies, out of which two are in Russia.

Analytics from Renaissance Capital predict that the beer market in Russia is set to increase. The Russian beer market is the fifth largest in the world. It increased by 5 per cent in 2004, in comparison with 3 per cent in Western Europe.

"I don't exclude that we will add some more companies to our business in Russia, because we want to strengthen our position,"​ said Grafland.

Heineken has third place in sales after Baltika, owned by Carlsberg and Scottish & Newcastle, and the Russian arm of InBev.

In addition, Heineken plans to buy out shares of a big Nigerian brewery.

The main reason for the new acquisitions is a desire to increase income, which decreased in 2004 by 27 per cent, the biggest in five years.

Related topics Manufacturers Heineken

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