Molson Coors Brewing Company announced today that it has launched Coors Light in Russia, the world's fourth largest beer market.

Beginning this month, Coors Light in 330 ml bottles will be available in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, as well as selected bars and neighbourhood stores across the Moscow region.

With consumption per capita at around 71L and a market size of approximately 100 million HL in 2009, Russia is the fourth largest beer market in the world by volume and has seen significant growth in beer sales in the past decade. International premium brands that are locally produced, in particular, have grown in popularity in Russia and despite this year's decline due to new taxes the category shows signs of even greater growth potential in the coming years.

With the support of a new Russian team based in Moscow, Molson Coors will manage the marketing and advertising of the Coors Light brand, while Moscow Brewing Company (MBC), Russia's leading importer of beer with a new state-of-the-art brewery in Moscow, will brew and distribute the brand.

"We are very optimistic about the future success of Coors Light in Russia as we have put in place all the ingredients required to build a winning brand. We have conducted extensive trade and consumer research, which has driven a unique and appealing brand positioning built around Rocky Mountain cold refreshment. In addition, we have an experienced Russian team on the ground and a very capable partner with one of Europe's most modern facilities brewing and distributing Coors Light," said Mauricio Cárdenas, chief officer, Latin America, Russia, India and Africa at Molson Coors.

"We're looking forward to working together with MBC and our Russian Team to bring our highly attractive brand, innovative packaging and Rocky Mountain refreshment to a large and growing population of Russian beer drinkers," Cárdenas added.

Kandy Anand, president of Molson Coors International said, "As the fourth largest beer market in the world, Russia has always been an attractive opportunity for us to expand our brand presence, particularly with Coors Light, which is quickly emerging as a global brand. Not unlike what we have done successfully in other international markets, our strategy has been to create local partnerships to establish a brand presence, invest behind the brand to expand its appeal and leverage opportunities to strengthen our route to market. Our partnership with MBC in Russia is consistent with this strategy and we are confident in our ability to attract Russian beer drinkers to our special brand and succeed in this large and promising market."

Igor Dementiev of Moscow Brewing Company (MBC) added, "We are very confident in our partnership with Molson Coors. Their proven strength in brand building and innovation around Coors Light combined with MBC's knowledge and experience in the market makes for a very compelling proposition for our two companies, as well as the country's beer drinkers."

In addition to today's announcement, Molson Coors has also recently announced partnerships with Mahou San Miguel in Spain, with Viet Thai in Vietnam, and most recently a joint venture with Si'hai Brewery in China.

Coors Light is now available in more than 25 countries worldwide.