May 11 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian unit of Danish beer maker Carlsberg said on Thursday it has launched a 5 million levs ($2.77 million/2.55 million euro) wastewater treatment plant at its brewery in Blagoevgrad, and has started works on a similar facility at its other brewery.
"We have already started preparations for the project for a wastewater treatment plant at our other brewery, in Shumen, which we plan to launch in 2019," Dejan Beko, managing director of Carlsberg Bulgaria, said.
Carlsberg operates two breweries in Bulgaria - in Blagoevgrad, in the southwest of the country, and in Shumen, in the northeast.
The company's Pirinsko brand was the leading beer brand in Bulgaria in 2016, Carlsberg Bulgaria said, adding that according to marketing research firm A/S Nielsen it had a 17.2% market share in the first quarter.
Carlsberg acquired a majority stake in the Shumen brewery in 2002. Later that same year Carlsberg became the majority owner of the brewery in Blagoevgrad. The two breweries were merged into Carlsberg Bulgaria in 2004. They have a combined annual production capacity of 1.8 million hectolitres.
Carlsberg Bulgaria's product portfolio includes the Shumensko and Pirinsko brands, alongside international beer brands Carlsberg, Tuborg, Budweiser Budvar and Erdinger, and the Somersby cider.