News and Articles related to City of Plovdiv
Current date: 2010-02-09 09:09

Belgian owner of breweries Kamenitza (Plovdiv) and Astika (Haskovo) ploughs EUR 15 million in new equipment

Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns Plovdiv-based brewery Kamenitza and Astika in Haskovo, will plough EUR 15 million in new equipment.

The company will install a new bottling line and build a state-of-the-art warehouse at its Haskovo plant, said the concern’s production director for the Balkans, Raymond de Virman. While the Astika plant has a capacity for 24,000 bottles per hour of beer, the new line will alone will be able to churn out 50,000 bottes an hour. The warehousing facility to be built at the factory will store Kamenitza produce as well. The two breweries produce seven brands including Kamenitza, Astika, Pleven, Slavyanka, Staropramen, Becks and Stella Artois.

De Virman played down reports that the concern plans to pull out of the east European market, saying the investment in the Haskovo brewery is well thought-out and will be implemented despite the economic hardships. Even though beer consumption has fallen since the start of the year, grim forecasts are ungrounded as the market picks up mostly in the summer.

InBev’s Plovdiv and Haskovo breweries represent nearly 27% of the Bulgarian beer market.