Carlsberg Serbia to invest 14m EUR in 2010

(Aleksandar Radosavljević)

- Carlsberg Serbia Group, the leading beer manufacturer in our market, plans to realize investments worth 14m EUR in 2010, 11m EUR of which will be set aside for improvement of production and logistics, while 3m EUR will be spent on the sales development. The biggest investments will be placed in the production line for new "Lav" bottle - total of 10m EUR - the CEO of Carlsberg Serbia, Aleksandar Radosavljević, announced today (February 10, 2010) and reminded that that company had invested 160m EUR in development of the brewer in Čelarevo over the past six years.

Radosavljević said that Carlsberg Serbia had produced and distributed 1.55m hl of beer in 2009, and that it planned to increase production by 10% in 2010. In spite of the crisis, the company kept the market share of 24.3%. According to the words of the CEO, the company's plan is to increase that share by 2% in 2010. He also announced that the number of employees would be increased from 492 to 510 by the end of the year.

The Finance Director of Carlsberg Serbia, Predrag Kudra, told eKapija that the company had exported 10% of products to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Israel, Greece, Slovakia and Czech Republic in 2009, while the export of beer to those markets in 2010 was planned to be increased by 5%.

- We are very satisfied with our operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina where our brand "Tuborg" is in the premium segment, and we also won the "Super Brand No. 1" award. We plan to pay special attention to Montenegrin market in 2011. Our expectations are that the announced investments will help us enlarge our market share in Serbia, as well as in all aforementioned countries. The focus of the business strategy for this year is placed on the change of design and logo of the bottle of "Lav" beer, and we are of the opinion that that will contribute to even bigger sales of our products. We will be the first in the country to offer new, green return bottle, which will make us different from all other beer manufacturers - Kudra explained.

According to the words of Aleksandar Radosavljević, the drop in beer sales in 2009 in Serbia was the biggest in the region and amounted to 12%, while the drop in beer sales in Croatia and Bulgaria was 5% and 9%, respectively, while the average drop in beer sales in European Union amounted to 4%.

- Having in mind the business climate in 2009, our primary task was to maintain the top quality of products and services at accessible prices. Just like before, we relied on the rich experience of Carlsberg in the markets worldwide - said Radosavljević.

According to his estimate, the state should not increase excise tax on beer any more because it would lead to the increase in price and the drop in demand.

Radosavljević said that Serbia was in the middle of the list of European countries ranked according to the size of excise taxes, but that it had higher excise taxes than some richer and more economically developed countries.