[Intl-tobacco] Philip Morris to Open $340 Mln Kazakh Tobacco Factory in May

[Robert Weissman]

Philip Morris to Open $340 Mln Kazakh Tobacco Factory in May
by John Varoli
Source: Bloomberg News, Monday, 3/13/00

St. Petersburg, Russia, March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Philip Morris Cos., the
world's largest tobacco company by sales, will open a $340 million plant
in the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan in May, the company said.

The factory will make tobacco products to be sold in Kazakhstan and other
Central Asian republics and could also export tobacco to Russia, the
company said.

International tobacco companies have invested more than $1 billion in the
former Soviet Union since 1992, with most of that going to the Russian
Federation. In that time, Philip Morris has become the largest foreign
investor in the tobacco industry in Central Asia.

     ``The new plant takes care of the Kazakh market and gives us the
potential to export to neighboring markets,'' said Bob May, director of
corporate affairs for Philip Morris Central Asia.

Philip Morris entered the Kazakh market in 1993, buying up a number of
local tobacco producers. Today it claims 80 percent of the local market,
making and selling Madeo and international brands such as L&M and
Chesterfield.

Philip Morris has also invested about $500 million in Russia in the past
five years, including the recent opening of a $330 million plant outside
of St. Petersburg.

It is also completing the $170 million expansion of its plant in the
Krasnodar region in southern Russia.