The rush is on
By all appearances, the Central Asian market of Kazakhstan is where the action is these days. Not only the world’s oil bosses are falling over themselves to secure a piece of the Caspian actions, the world’s beer bosses too have staked their claims: The Turkish Efes Group has been in the country longest since 1996, operating the Karaganda brewery located 200 km to the south of the capital Astana.
This year Efes will open a USD16 million brewery near Almaty with an output volume of 500,000 hl. Its competitor Heineken has been in the country since 1999 and only last year raised its stake in the Dinal brewery in Almaty. Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) is continuing its expansion in Kazakhstan by acquiring its second brewery in the country in May 2003.8% in 2002 alone..