Russian juice and dairy producer Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods has unveiled plans to invest US$59.5m in the domestic dairy sector between now and 2005.

By 2005, the company expects to be producing around 3,000 tonnes of milk every day, up from the current daily output of just over 2,000 tonnes, confirmed chairman Sergei Plastinin earlier this week.

Wimm-Bill-Dann will ensure it meets its targets by extending the production facilities it uses beyond Moscow to include Anninskoye Moloko in Voronezh, Moloko Veydelevki in Belgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod Dairy Combine. The company also plans to organize deliveries of powdered milk from these regions, he said. The projet will cost some $29.5m.

A further $30m will be invested in the Moscow, Vologda, Kostroma, Ryazan and other nearby regions, reported Interfax.