25 Aug 2009 17:09

Valio

MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) - Finnish Group Valio's total sales in Russia for the first half of 2009 came to 29,700 tonnes of dairy production, the company said in a statement.

For the first quarter of the year, sales increased by 6% year-on-year, the statement said, while total sales for the second quarter had gone up by 14% in natural terms.

According to the research company AC Nielson, Valio's market stake for processed cheese decreased to 12.3% to April-May against 12.9% in the same period of 2008. This material for the first half of the year was put at 35,100 tonnes, the researchers said.

Valio's stake on the butter market came to 10,2%, AC Nielsen said. This segment of the Russian dairy market increased in January-June 2009 to 56,600 tonnes from 53,200 tonnes in the same period of 2008.

Valio was founded in 1905 and includes 22 cooperatives and about 11,000 farmers. Valio products first appeared in Russia in 1908 and Valio St. Petersburg, the company's first representative office, opened in St. Petersburg in 1994. Valio owns 15 plants in Finland, two in Estonia and one in Belgium. The company had turnover of about 1.84 billion euros in 2008. Revenue in Russia topped 204 million euro.