SARANSK, 16 April 2003 – JSC «Saransk Brewing Company», a brewery within SUN Interbrew group of companies, is pleased to announce launch of full-scale beer production in PET bottles. The necessity of development of beer production in the new packaging has become a clear objective for Saransk brewers as beer bottled in PET has gained high popularity with Russian consumers and accounts for a quarter of the domestic beer market.

The PET lines for JSC «Saransk Brewing Company» were manufactured, installed and started up by KHS, Germany, a leading global manufacturer of brewing equipment. The new PET equipment capacity will allow to produce up to 18 000 polyethylene bottles of different format per hour, fill them up with beer, place in special pads, then put pads onto pallets and shrink-wrap them.

At the first stage, Saransk Brewing Company will use one of SUN Interbrew’s most popular national brand Tolstiak to be bottled in PET. The brand was first introduced in Saransk in May 1996 and within a few years after its launch became popular all over Russia. Tolstiak will be bottled in PET package which has an unusual form and a special surface texture. The beer in these bottles will not only be of the highest quality but will also have an affordable price.

Development of the new packaging type at Saransk Brewing Company became possible owing to the cooperation in the field of beer production development between SUN Interbrew and the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. Chief Executive Officer of SUN Interbrew Joseph W. Strella said: “We highly appreciate our partnership relations with the Republic of Mordovia and we are looking forward to further mutually beneficial cooperation”.

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