Under the agreement, which runs until 2012, the popular Asahi Super Dry brand will be brewed in Russia from April and will go on sale in shops at an average retail price of 45 rubles ($1.9) from June.
The beer will be sold to other former Soviet republics, starting with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the end of 2008.
Asahi Super Dry first went on sale in 1987 and has been Japan's biggest seller for many years now. The beer is exported to more than 50 countries and is produced under license in China, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Britain and Canada.
Baltika has 4 licensed beer brands: Tuborg - the leader of the Russian licensed segment, Carlsberg, Foster's and Kronenbourg 1664.
Thanks to its successful 2007 marketing strategy, Baltika was able to ensure brand growth without increasing advertising expenditure, becoming a market leader in Russia by the end of 2007.
Baltika was established in St. Petersburg in 1998, the company has 11 breweries in nine Russian regions.
