by Eugene Vorotnikov FoodBizDaily.com Moscow
November 12 2009 - InBev, one of the world’s largest brewers, has no plans to resume the production of its Russian premium beer"Tinkoff", the company said today.
Last year InBev stopped its plant in the Leningrad region which bottled "Tinkoff beer. At that time the company promised to transfer the production capacities of the brand to other plants, however that plans were failed.
According to InBev, the bottling of "Tinkoff" will be resumed in the case of more favorable market conditions.
"Tinkoff" brand was established by a well-known Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov in 1998 and became one of the most expensive beers on the Russian market. The advertising budget of "Tinkoff" was $8.9 million dollars per year. The beer was produced in a factory in the city of Pushkin, Leningrad region. In 2005 the businessman sold this site to InBev for nearly 167 million euros.
In December 2008 InBev announced that it will stop the St’Petersburg’s enterprise due to necessity of total manufacturing optimization. The company assured all the St’Petersburg’s brands, will be transferred to other Russian enterprises.
According to the representative of InBev Ilya Lysenko, the company has no plans to resume the production of "Tinkoff".
"This brand is still in our portfolio and its future prospects will depend on market conditions ", - said Mr. Lysenko.
Meanwhile, according to leading Russian analysts, "Tinkoff" brand is not so important for InBev. "It has never had a big market share, and was only known for its aggressive advertising campaigns on TV with images of naked girls", - said the experts.
FoodBizIntel®
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV
Address: Brouwerijplein 1 Leuven, 3000 Belgium
Telephone: +32-16-247111
Fax: +32-16-247407
About Anheuser-Busch InBev NV
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, formerly InBev NV, is a Belgium-based company. It produces, markets, distributes and sells a portfolio of over 200 beer brands. These include beer brands with global reach such as Stella Artois and Beck’s; multi-country brands such as Brahma, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Staropramen and Loewenbrau; and many local beers such as Skol, Bohemia, Quilmes, Labatt Blue, Siberian Crown, Chernigivske, Sedrin, Cass and Jupiler. In addition, the Company also produces and distributes soft drinks, particularly in Latin America. As per September 30, 2008, the Company had operations in over 30 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific and sales in over 130 countries. Anheuser-Busch InBev is organized along seven business zones or segments: North America, Latin America North, Latin America South, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Global Export & Holding Companies. The first six correspond to regions in which the Company’s operations are based