Aug 27 2010 --- Nestlé emphasises its presence in the Russian and Eurasia region with the opening of a duo of premium chocolate production lines.

Creating 149 new jobs, the two production lines which were transferred from the Tuchkovo factory in the Ruzsky district, Moscow, to the Samara region will produce premium brand Comilfo chocolate.

At the official inauguration on August 26, 2010, Laurent Freixe, Nestlé Executive Vice President and Zone Director for Europe, was joined by Dmitry Azarov, Deputy Head of the Samara region Administration, Stefan De Loecker, Nestlé Russia CEO and Pavel Roudas, General Director of Confectionery Union Rossiya which is one of the 13 Nestlé production facilities in Russia.

Mr Freixe said: “The transfer of the Comilfo production lines allows us to focus our chocolate manufacturing facilities in Russia and strengthen the factory as a key competence centre for confectionery products in Europe.  This move will help us to further develop our successful chocolate brands.”

Mr Azarov, Deputy Head of the Samara region Administration, added: “One of the cornerstones for the stable development of the Samara region is successful enterprises. Confectionery Union Rossiya is one of the biggest factories in our region offering competitive wages for more than 1,400 people, sourcing raw material from local suppliers and providing budgets of all levels with substantial infusions.”

The inauguration follows a visit by Mr Freixe to the Nestlé Kuban factory in Timashevsk the day before to observe the progress of an investment project.

Nestlé had announced an investment of CHF 240 million (more than RUB 7 billion) to expand the Nestlé Kuban factory in order to substitute the current packaging process with a full-cycle production of Nescafé Gold coffee, at the end of 2008.

The factory, due to start production in the third quarter of 2011, will benefit from Nestlé's state-of-the-art freeze-dry technology which already exists in many of its other factories around the world.

Mr Freixe was joined by Peter Svensson, Operations Director for Zone Europe, Mike Nixon, Technical Director for Zone Europe and Nestlé Russia CEO Mr De Loecker.

Mr Freixe said: “The Russian soluble coffee market is the largest in the world and has major potential. That is why we are making a strategic investment to increase our capacities in Russia using our most advanced company technologies and our wide experience in producing premium soluble coffee since inventing it in 1938.”

Nestlé Russia offers brands including Nescafé, Mega, Rossiya - Shedraya Dusha, Maggi, Perrier and Purina.

Nestlé operates 13 production facilities in Russia with 10 sales offices and employs around 10,000 employees.