Nestle to invest $212 mln in Russian factory

MOSCOW, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Nestle NESN.MM will spend 240 million Swiss francs ($211.6 million) on expanding its instant coffee factory in Russia's southern region of Kuban, a Nestle executive said on Monday.

Luis Cantarell, executive vice president of the Swiss-based food company, said his company hopes to launch the new plant in the first quarter of 2011.

He also said the financial crisis has not affected Nestle's plans in Russia, where the company operates 13 factories.

"The current situation has not changed our intention to move forward. We believe in the Russian economy..." Cantarell told reporters.

Nestle Kuban produced around 28,000 tonnes of instant coffee products last year. (Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov, writing by Tanya Mosolova; Editing by David Cowell)