OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 July 2008 was announced, that a collective labour agreement was signed at the headquarters of Baltika Breweries in St. Petersburg. This document shall govern labour and social relations in the Company for the coming three years.

The collective agreement was signed by Vice President for Corporate Affairs Daniil Briman on behalf of the Company and Vera Suslova, Chairman of the Works Council at Baltika Breweries. Also invited to the signing ceremony were members of the Works Council and representatives of the Company’s trade unions from St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don and Yaroslavl.

Initiative for conclusion of an overall collective labour agreement came from the Works Council, which is a representative body created by Baltika’s employees last year. Representatives of the primary trade union organisations at Baltika also took an active part in discussion the document.

The main provisions of the collective agreement with Baltika concern compensation, labour relations, working hours and time off from work, working conditions and on-job safety. Moreover, the list of social guarantees and privileges listed in the agreement has been expanded. For example, an annual increase in the average wage level has been stipulated (formerly this was never reflected in agreements).

Daniil Briman, Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Baltika Breweries commented on the agreement as follows: ‘The working conditions at Baltika have always been competitive and the social package which the Company offers substantially exceeds the requirements of labour law. In the collective agreement, we have reconfirmed the essential social guarantees, while adding new provisions proposed by the employees. The content of Baltika’s collective labour agreement makes it one of the leading agreements of this kind from the standpoint of defending the interests of workers.’

In 2007, Baltika invested more than 500 million rubles in insurance for its employees, free meals, material assistance, health and recreational facilities, training and other privileges and special compensation.

Baltika Breweries is the largest FMCG producer in Russia. Ever since 1996, it has been the leader on the Russian beer market. The Company comprises 11 breweries across all of Russia. It has a broad portfolio of brands, which number more than 40 and include such well known brands as Baltika, Nevskoye, Yarpivo, Arsenalnoye, Tuborg and Carlsberg. There are more than 12,000 employees.

Baltika Breweries has repeatedly won the most prestigious award of the brewery industry, the ‘Amber Star’ for ‘Social Responsibility in Business’ and for ‘Successfully Building a Business Reputation.’ The Company is also a regular winner of the All-Russian Competition for ‘The Russian Organisation Showing High Social Effectiveness’ in the categories ‘Wages and Social Compensation’ and ‘Working Conditions and Safety.’