Olvi's Baltic companies to cooperate with Coca-Cola

RIGA (BNS) - Finland's Olvi and Coca-Cola on Oct. 9 signed a letter of intent regarding cooperation in beverage distribution operations in the Baltic countries.

On behalf of Olvi, the parties to the cooperation are its subsidiaries and associated companies AS Tartu Olletehas in Estonia, AS Cesu Alus in Latvia and AB Ragutis in Lithuania.

The cooperation will start at the beginning of 2001, and the format and details of the cooperation will be settled in country-specific negotiations by the end of 2000.

"The aim of Olvi's Baltic companies is to increase effectiveness. Coca-Cola is very strong in the area of soft drinks, while Olvi's Baltic subsidiaries are strong in beer, cider and long drinks," said Tarmo Noop, director of A. Le Coq Tartu Olletehas (Tartu Brewery). "The handling, transportation routes and ordering cycles of both non-alcoholic beverages and beer are relatively similar."

At the same time, there are certainly no plans to unite Coca-Cola's and Olvi's sales operations, Noop said.

Edgars Stelmahers, director of Cesu Alus brewery, told that the Coca-Cola beverage concern and Baltic subsidiaries of the Finnish beer producer, Olvi, decided to launch cooperation to reduce their costs.