FINLAND — Finland-based Huhtamaki Oyj is planning to build a plant to produce paper and plastic packaging, as well as disposable tableware, in Russia's Tatarstan Republic.
The plant will be built in the Alabuga special economic zone and will supply McDonald's restaurants in the Volga region, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and the Urals, the Tatarstan government said in a press release.
Natalia Valuhova, director of sales and marketing at Huhtamaki CIS, says construction will begin next year and is expected to end in 2015.
Financial details of the project, as well as the plant's capacity, were not officially disclosed but the volume of investments may reach RUB 1bn (€30m), according to sources in the Tatarstan Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The payback period of the project will not exceed one year.
According to Andrew Ziryanov, director of supplies at McDonald's Russia, the deal with Huhtamaki will allow the fast-food chain to significantly save on costs.
Huhtamaki already operates a plant in the Ivanteevka area of Moscow.
