Coca-Cola HBC says keeps investing in Russia juice production

MOSCOW, June 4 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola HBC, the world's second-largest bottler of Coca-Cola brand drinks, continues to invest in juice production in Russia, confident of the market's recovery, its Russian head said on Thursday.

Stefanos Vafeidis, Russia General Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia, told Reuters the company would open a new juice production line at its plant in the southern Russian city of Rostov next week.

"We continue - for instance now in juice production - to increase our production capacity," Vafeidis said at a retail conference in Moscow.

"We continue to invest because we believe in the long-term perspective of Russia, we are not here for either six months or one year," he said. "Yes, there is a crisis, yes, consumption temporarily, we believe, is down ... It will come back."

Vafeidis said per-capita consumption in Russia was still low compared to many other European countries and should start catching up when the economy recovers from weak oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine.

"The answer to crisis is get closer to the consumer, give more innovative products, take care of your pricing to be relevant," he added. "This crisis will pass, brighter days will come and whoever is ready and whoever is here and does the right thing, he will enjoy it."

Last year, Coca-Cola HBC added eight new juice production lines at Multon, its Russian joint venture with Coca-Cola Co , and at its carbonated drink plants while Coca-Cola Co closed its juice unit, Nidan.

In 2015, apart from Rostov, Coca-Cola HBC will open at least one more new juice manufacturing line, a spokeswoman for the bottler said on Thursday. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Olga Sichkar; Editing by Tom Heneghan)