The American company PepsiCo has launched the first phase of a snack and savory foods plant near Novosibirsk in Russia. This was reported by Deutsche Welle.
As reported by DW, citing TASS, the production capacity is 60,000 tons per year. Another five lines are planned to be opened later.
"Enterprises of our region supply special potatoes of those varieties that are acceptable for chip production," said the spokesperson of the Minister of Agriculture of the region, Yevhen Leshchenko.
It is noted that the project was planned to be launched in 2021, for which the company spent over 12 billion rubles. According to the minister, the plant was aimed at supplying the Siberian Federal District and abroad, but it is still unclear when the enterprise will reach its design capacity, as there have been difficulties with the supply of technological equipment.
According to Leshchenko, "it's all imported, subject to sanctions."
As DW notes, in March 2022, PepsiCo announced the cessation of the sale of beverages, investment projects, and advertising activities in Russia. At the same time, the American company remains one of the main producers of dairy products in Russia — it owns the brand "Wimm-Bill-Dann". At the end of 2023, media reports claimed that PepsiCo was selling a dairy plant in the Krasnodar Krai to a company associated with the "Agrocomplex" of the former head of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, Alexander Tkachev.
The company has been operating in Russia for over 60 years, and its cola was one of the few Western products allowed in the Soviet Union before its dissolution.
In September 2022, it became known that PepsiCo Inc had ceased production of Pepsi, 7UP, and Mountain Dew in Russia. This happened almost six months after the American company announced that it would suspend sales and production.
