Carlsberg Breweries A/S has appointed new management boards for both its breweries in Bulgaria - Shumensko Pivo and Pirinsko Pivo that were acquired in 2002. Chairman of the management boards and chief executive officer for the two companies with effect from March 1 was appointed Alexander Grancharov, which had worked for Coca-Cola since 1993, and had been country manager for Bulgaria for the past three years. Chief financial officer for both companies was appointed Robert Schelde. Whilw Hristo Hristov will be the third member of the Shumensko management board, Peter Alexandrov will serve on the Pirinsko management board.

“A joint management team consisting of a chief executive officer, marketing director, chief production officer, sales and logistics director, and a chief financial officer is now in place for both breweries,” the company said in a statement. "We are producers of top-quality beer and will not be competing on price in the market," Grancharov said. "It is a question of letting our customers know that by paying a slightly higher price you get a much higher quality beer."

Carlsberg Breweries A/S bought 67% of the Bulgarian brewery Pirinsko Pivo in August 2002. During a recent public tender offer, Carlsberg Breweries agreed to buy more shares and now has more than 98% of the shares in the company. Pirinsko Pivo, which is situated in Blagoevgrad, 100 km south of the capital Sofia, has a market share of 12% of the 4.5 million hl total market. At the end of June 2002, Carlsberg Breweries bought 59% of the Bulgarian brewery Shumensko Pivo. Mr Fikret Ince and other minority shareholders own the remaining shares. Shumensko, based in the town Shumen close to the Black Sea coast, has an 8% market share.

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