Kompania Piwowarska investments to reflect actual market demand

Brewer Kompania Piwowarska (KP) announced that in 2004 and the following few years, its investments will amount to zł. 200 million. "Much will depend on large the increase in the demand for beer will be," said KP president Paweł Sudoł. In his opinion, this year brewers will sell at least 27 million hectoliters of beer. KP itself is capable of selling nine million hectoliters which will give it around a 33% share of the market. Despite this year's warm summer, beer sales increased by only 2.8% in the third quarter as compared to the second quarter. Sudoł said that the current production capacities of KP-owned breweries in Poznań, Tychy and Białystok stand at about 11 million hectoliters. "It will be another good year for us, although I am cautious to estimate how far our sales increased, particularly as the fourth quarter is always the most difficult," said Sudoł. (Puls Biznesu, p.11-12) A.Z.