New Aquanika owner becomes CEO

MOSCOW. Nov 2 (Interfax) - Mikhail Soskov has become the new CEO of Aquanika, replacing Yelena Postol, who had headed the Russian water producer since the beginning of 2020, data from the SPARK-Interfax analytics system showed.

In addition, JSC Tsentr Lok has become the new sole owner of Aquanika.

RBC reported earlier that Gennady Timchenko's Volga Group had sold its water business. The paper said that Tsentr Log is registered in the Moscow Region town of Chernogolovka and is owned by Soskov, who is a partner of water and soda producer Chernogolovka.

The sale included the company's plant in Nizhny Novgorod region and the Aquanika water brand.

Aquanika's new owner plans to develop co-packing at the company's plant. Aquanika will serve as a bottler of beverages for other producers, including Chernogolovka, Soskov told RBC. He said there are also agreements to work with other beverage producers, but he did not name them. A decision has not been made yet on whether to continue producing water under the Aquanika brand.

Aquanika produces drinking water under the Aquanika brand, Mugo juices, Ministerstvo Gazirovki sodas and Ivanov Kvas kvas. The company's plant in Nizhny Novgorod region, which opened in 2010, has capacity to produce up to 500 million liters per year. Investment in the plant totalled $100 million.

Aquanika's revenue jumped more than 50% to 1.7 billion rubles in 2021 from 1.1 billion rubles, but the company posted a net loss of 209.1 million rubles compared to 215.4 million rubles in 2020, SPARK-Interfax data showed. In its financial statements for 2020, the company said it planned to reach the breakeven point in 2024. Aquanika forecast an increase in losses in 2021-2022 due to substantial expenditures on scheduled repairs of process equipment and development of its assets.