InBev to cease brewing operations in the Pleven brewery
The Pleven site will continue its production of malt; sales and distribution activities, as well as logistics operations, will also continue.
25/10/05 InBev S.A. has announced that its Bulgarian subsidiary will cease brewing operations in the Pleven brewery, one of its three Bulgarian breweries, on October 21, 2005, and transfer production to the remaining two breweries.
After an extensive review of its Bulgarian operations, which took over a year to conduct, InBev has decided to optimize its production activities by the end of 2005. The decision to transfer brewing and packaging operations to the two other sites is based on excess capacity, and on the disadvantages which this creates. The Pleven site will continue its production of malt; sales and distribution activities, as well as logistics operations, will also continue.
Ninety eight employees will be affected by the closure, and will be provided fair severance packages as well as support services.
As a result of the Pleven Brewery restructuring, new investments will be made, and new jobs will be created in both the Plovdiv and Haskovo breweries.
All necessary steps will be taken to ensure that the Pleven brewery production is transitioned to the rest of the Distribution centers network before the transfer of production assets takes place. The normal supply of stock to the market will also be secured.
InBev expects a total one-off cost of 0.4 million euro, related to the production optimization, which has a capacity of 0.46 million hectoliters. The total capital expenditure (CAPEX) needed for the relocation of production will be approximately 1.6 million euro.
