BAT Russia has announced a US$ 47 million investment plan for the Saratov-based cigarette making plant BAT-STF, reports the trade periodical Tobacco Review.

The two-year programme is aimed at augmenting the plant’s production facilities and includes installation of a new primary line and several cigarette making and packing lines. To this end, a new production building is expected to be constructed next to the existing ones. With the investment plan completed, the plant is going to bring its output to 45 billion sticks per annum. In 2005, BAT-STF made 29.4 billion cigarettes and won the fifth place among Russia’s biggest tobacco manufacturers. The investment plan is launched within the limits of BAT’s strategy of winning leadership on the Russian cigarette market where the tobacco giants runs three cigarette making facilities, BAT-Yava, BAT-STF and BAT St Petersburg. US$ 170 million is to be invested in the three facilities by 2014, in addition to the US$ 520 million that have been invested since 1997. (vt)