OREANDA-NEWS. On 24 June 2009 was announced, that Belarus’ OAO Grodno Tobacco Company Neman increased shipments of own brands 6.4% on the year in January-May 2009 to 3.2 billion units, a source in the administration of the company told.

“Sales of own brands increased because of the launch of new brands – VIP, Queen and Fest. We sold around 10 million Queen cigarettes in May, whereas normally a new brand sells around 5 million units a month,” he said.

Another reason for the increase in sales of its own brands is the low cost of Belarusian cigarettes.

“Consumers want to get good value for money. The quality we offer is good enough, and the R-Corner pack is very attractive,” the source said.

In January-May 2009, the demand for Belarusian American blend brands rose by 26.6% year-on-year to 2.5 billion units. The Minsk brand is leading the way with its share in overall sales increasing by 3.2 percentage points to 16.8%.

In the mean time, non-filter cigarette sales in the first five months fell by 30% on the year, Oriental cigarette sales also decreased.

“Oriental cigarette production has decreased [the key brands include Kosmos, Astra lux, Prima lux, Mirski zamok], and we will soon start phasing down these brands, because their sales are going down. In January-May, they decreased by 1.7 percentage points to 3.9% of the total. The share of non-filter cigarettes is also falling, although its share remains high at 13%. A lot will depend on consumer demand for these cigarettes,” the source said.

Neman was founded in 1861 and transformed into a joint-stock company with all shares controlled by the state in 2008. Neman tobacco factory decreased cigarette output 12.9% on the year in January-May to 4.8 billion units.

Production under contracts with British-American Tobacco Trading Company reached 1.2 billion units, up 43% from previous January-May.