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Wimm-Bill-Dann Launches Baby Food Production in Siberia

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 March 2008, 09:00 CDT

Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC, the largest Russian and the CIS producer of health and wellness foods, today announced the launch of production of Agusha baby food and Imunele functional products in Omsk Region.

The baby-food production facility is located on the territory of Wimm-Bill-Dann's Manros-M factory, the largest milk-processing plant in Omsk Region. The new production complex has its own reception point for raw-milk deliveries, a warehouse for finished products and three production lines by Tetra Pak, Hassia and Ave. It is the largest production site for dairy products for children in Russia located east of the Ural Mountains. Its designed production capacity is over than 50 tons per day. The total investment in the facility amounted to US$14 million.

The full range of baby foods under the Agusha brand as well as Imunele functional products will be manufactured at the Omsk plant. Manros-M will supply the products to all of Russia's regions from the Urals to the Far East.

"The launch of production of the baby food and Imunele at Omsk is a strategic step forward in the development of the company," noted Dmitry Mironchikov, who heads up Western Siberia for Wimm-Bill-Dann. "We are seriously strengthening our presence in one of the fastest growing segments of the food market in Siberia and making it far simpler to supply the Urals, Eastern-Siberian and Far-East regions."

Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC was founded in 1992 and is the largest manufacturer of dairy products and a leading producer of juices and beverages in Russia and the CIS. The company produces dairy products (main brands include: Domik v Derevne, Neo, 2Bio, 33 Korovy, Chudo and more), juices (J7, Lubimy Sad, 100% Gold), Essentuki mineral water and Agusha baby food. The company has 37 manufacturing facilities in Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia with over 21,000 employees. Wimm-Bill-Dann became the first Russian dairy producer to receive approval from the European Commission to export its products into the European Union.

In 2007 Standard & Poor's Governance Services confirmed WBD's Corporate Governance Score 7+ (7.7 accordingly on the Russian national scale), which makes the Company's score the highest rating in Russia. That result reflects the effective work of the Board of Directors and, in particular, the real influence of independent directors in the decision-making process and the adherence of the controlling shareholders to the highest standards of corporate governance.

Some of the information contained in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements to conform them to actual results. We refer you to the documents Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically, the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, and risks associated with our competitive environment, acquisition strategy, ability to develop new products or maintain market share, brand and company image, operating in Russia, volatility of stock price, financial risk management, and future growth.

Source: Business Wire

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