Samsung plans to build TV plant in Russia

SEOUL: South Korea's Samsung Electronics on Sunday announced a plan to build a 57-million-dollar plant in Russia to help meet growing demand for digital television sets.   

Samsung said it plans to build the factory in Kaluga, 85 kilometres southwest of Moscow, with construction scheduled to begin next month and to be completed by October 2008.   

The new factory will help Samsung "cope with the rapidly increasing demand for digital televisions in Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) region," it said in a statement.   

The plant will produce up to 2.2 million sets annually by 2010, Samsung said.   

Samsung currently has television production facilities in eight countries -- Brazil, China, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Slovakia and Thailand.