27 May 2008 - The Overseas Investment Office of New Zealand today granted permission to Nutritek Group, a leading Russian producer of baby food products, to consolidate up to 100% of the shares of New Zealand Dairies Limited company in New Zealand.
Oleg Ochinskiy, Nutritek's Chief Executive Officer said, “The Overseas Investment Office's decision accelerates our international strategy implementation. The milk processing plant in New Zealand is a launching pad for expansion of Nutritek in South-East Asian countries. We are very pleased that Overseas Investment Office noted the high international level of Nutritek’s baby food production technology”.
The New Zealand Dairies Limited’s plant is located in Canterbury district of New Zealand’s southern island, considered to be one of the best raw milk producing areas in the world. The plant’s first stage milk processing capacity is 120 thousand tonnes per year. It enables produce 18 thousand tonnes of grown up milk base for infant from one year old and assures Nutritek’s sales in South-East Asia of $US225 million in 2009 financial year.
The Nutritek Group invested US$100 million in debt and equity into the plant’s construction. The commissioning of the first stage of the plant in October 2007 was part of the Nutritek Group’s strategy of baby food business expansion in South-East Asia.