RUSSIA: Kansk Plant Turns to More Competitive Products

Source from:  tobaccojournal.com 07/08/2004

The Kansk-based tobacco factory in Siberia, with the controlling interest belonging to the Krasnoyarsk regional government, has improved its performance substantially over the past months and is now planning to expand its presence on the market. In particular, the company has already launched sales in the neighbouring Irkutsk and Novosibirsk regions and intends to expand to Central Russia. Machinery for hard packs is announced to be purchased by the end of the year, so that the facility starts making new and higher-quality products in 2005 already. The making of filtertips is also in sight. After desperate but fruitless efforts to survive over the past few years, the company now seems to be lifting up its head and has gained US$ 500,000 net profit in 2003, almost three times more than a year before, despite the fact that the facility was virtually shut down during the first quarter of 2003. Under the new management, the product cost has shrunk by 3 per cent, whereas wholesale prices went up 10 per cent, reports the Press-Line news agency. Enditem