Russia, Moscow: Russia's leading brewery, Baltika, jointly owned by Denmark's Carlsberg and Scottish&Newcastle, on Saturday, October 16 shipped its first batch of 17,200 litres of beer to New Zealand. The second shipment with Baltika Number 3 Classic and Baltika Number 7 Export brands will be shipped by Christmas.

The official distributor of Baltika, Federal Geo Ltd, intends to sell Russia’s most popular beer not only in New Zealand but also in Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands.

Now Baltika’s brands are sold in 35 countries. Last year it exported 992,300 hectolitres of beer, or 6 percent of overall sales. That was a 9% increase versus the same period 2002.

20 October, 2004