Nestle to invest over $200 mln in Russian coffee factory

MOSCOW (AFP) — Swiss food giant Nestle said on Monday it would boost its Russian operations by investing 240 million Swiss francs (212 million dollars, 158 million euros) in a coffee factory in the south of the country.

"Nestle today announced its intention to invest 240 million CHF (Swiss francs) francs into the expansion of its coffee factory in Timashevsk in the Russian Krasnodar region," the company said in a statement distributed at a Moscow investment conference.

The company said it had agreed its expansion plans with the administration of Krasnodar region, located in the south of Russia on the Black Sea, in a deal that comes despite tense relations between Moscow and the West.

Nestle has about 11,000 employees in Russia, where it started operations 13 years ago and is a leading provider of chocolate, coffee, ice cream and infant nutrition products.