“The question of further purchases is not being raised today” – Kommersant

Having purchased Russian assets from the Dutch brewing concern Heineken, which today operate under the name United Breweries, the Arnest group continues to increase its capacity. The president of United Breweries told Kommersant about plans to load the sites, the portfolio of brands and interest in hop growing. Alexey Sagal.

— What attracted you in the first place about the asset and how will White Kremlin develop after the purchase?

— This is a modern brewery in Russia with German equipment, which has a convenient geographical location from a logistics point of view, and is also located in a priority development area in Chistopol. “White Kremlin” will become a 100% subsidiary of the “United Breweries” (UPH), but will continue to operate as an independent structure registered in Tatarstan. Purchases and sales will be combined.

We will develop the plant’s brands at the federal level; in addition, orders will be placed at the White Kremlin for OPH brands – “Bochkarev”, “Okhota”, “Three Bears”. In addition, we plan to invest in the further development of the plant’s production and warehouse capacities, including the development of the non-alcoholic direction. This will allow the plant to launch production of new brands under contract and maximize capacity utilization.

— Is it necessary to additionally load the capacity of the industrial enterprise after buying out the business from Heineken?

— After acquiring White Kremlin, OPH will have eight factories in different parts of the country and about 40% of free capacity. We plan to continue the development of our brands and launch new product lines in soft drinks, we are ready to expand our distribution network and expect to begin exporting in 2024.

We have extensive experience in developing the export of cosmetic products, which we have brought to the markets of 45 countries, exchange rates are favorable, and the state supports exporters. In addition, unlike international brewing companies that produce only their own brands at their factories, we are ready to offer the free capacity of our factories for the production of private labels to retail chains, as well as to any other companies that have brands in drinks, beer and cider.

— What are your plans for developing the OPH brand portfolio?

— In 2024, we plan to make serious investments in the marketing of the Bochkarev, Dr.Diesel and Okhota brands. In addition, under the terms of the deal, OPH can continue to produce beer under the Krusovice, Gesser and Edelweiss brands for three years.

— Sources in the brewing market assumed that you became interested in the brewing business after buying out factories for the production of aluminum cans from the American Ball.

— The production of aluminum cans and the production of beer and drinks are independent businesses that we do not mix.

— What other assets in the brewing market or in the soft drinks segment might be of interest to you?

— The question of further purchases is not being raised today. In the coming years, we want to focus on developing our own brands and the OPH business, including White Kremlin, where, as I said, we see potential, including in cooperation with other players to produce their brands at our facilities.

In addition, we are ready to invest in Russian hop production and are open to dialogue with the initiators of such projects. Russia has historically provided itself with hops, but after 1991 the replacement of domestic varieties with imported ones began, and with the arrival of foreign investors in brewing, the industry switched mainly to imported hops from Germany and the Czech Republic.

I think that it is wrong to import something that can be produced in our country, especially since Russian agriculture has proven in recent years that it is capable of a lot.

— What might your participation in hop production look like?

— We are ready to support farmers and agricultural producers in those regions where hop production is concentrated in Russia, concluding long-term purchasing contracts with them. We plan to build similar relationships with producers of barley, malt and sugar in the regions where our factories are located. In the brewing business, we want to rely 100% on Russian raw materials.

Interview conducted by Anatoly Kostyrev