New types of products are released: «2000» beer, Cola Nova, Obolon Orange A. C. E. soft drinks.
OBOLON CJSC affirms high organization of the corporate quality management system and obtains a certificate of the ISO-9001 standard version 2000. The production of Zhyvchyk Unique soft drink containing fructose instead of sugar is started.
In order to reduce environmental load, a PET bottle recycling plant with capacity of 500 kg/hour was commissioned in Oleksandria, Kirovograd Region.
The OBOLON brand is recognized as a «Golden Trademark».
With the launch of the new Europe’s largest bottling line with maximum capacity of 110 000 bottles per hour, the OBOLON plant is ranked among three largest brewing plants of Europe. A new brewing system is put into operation. The Company invested as much as $18 million in this large-scale project. The new brewing system is equipped with three mash-mixing vessels, wort boiler, whirlpool and the largest lauter tank in Ukraine, with a diameter reaching 11.5 m A new youth brand, Hike Premium, goes on the market. Limited production of Hike Premium is used for the first time as an innovative approach within the brand strategy.
Oleksandr Slobodyan, President of OBOLON CJSC, heads the «TOP-100. Best top managers of Ukraine» rating. OBOLON CJSC wins the All-Ukrainian contest for «Best Employer of the Year» within the group of enterprises employing 1001 to 5000 people. A new trademarks, «Desant» beer and «Prozora» drinking water, were introduced to the market.
OBOLON is recognized as one of the best taxpayers of Kyiv. A new brewing system and filling lines with capacity of 39 000 b/h (PET bottles), 50 000 b/h (glass bottles) and 60 000 cans/h (0.5l, 0.33l and 0.25l aluminum cans) are put into operation.
OBOLON CJSC was the first enterprise in the food industry to certify four management systems at once. During the audit performed by representatives of the German firm DEKRA-ITS, Obolon re-affirmed its compliance with the requirements of DSTU ISO 9001:2001 (Quality Management System), DSTU ISO 22 000:2007 (Food Safety Management Systems), DSTU ISO 14 001:2006 (Environmental Management Systems), and DSTU-П OHSAS 18 001:2006 (Occupational Health and Safety Systems). Significant expansion of the keg line from 400 keg/h to 1000 keg/h takes place. Obolon established a European record for beer production — 111.1 million dal. A unit forprocessing brewing waste, i. e., brewer’s grain, is put into operation at the main Kyiv plant. After drying and granulation, the brewer’s grain is used as high-quality forage for agricultural purposes. Ukraine’s first production of packing bands from recycled PET bottles is initiated in Oleksandria.
Ceremonial opening of a malting plant is held in Chemerivtsi, Khmelnytskyi Region. It is one of the most up-to-date facilities in Europe. Total project investments amounted to $100 million. Production capacity is 120 000 tonnes of malt per year. After large-scale remodeling, advanced boileries and bottling lines are launched at the Zibert’s Brewery Subsidiary, Fastiv. The company’s brand portfolio is supplemented with a new Zibert' trademark. The line comprises three sorts of beer: Zibert Light, Zibert Bavarian and Zibert White.