DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark Corp. has launched its first manufacturing plant in Russia, and held grand opening ceremonies there on Wednesday.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. has launched its first manufacturing plant in Russia, and held grand opening ceremonies there on Wednesday.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Stupino, located near Moscow, features two Huggies diaper lines.

According to the company,  Russia has been identified as a key growth opportunity in its international strategy. Today Kimberly-Clark holds significant market shares in the baby and child care, consumer tissue and feminine care categories. Investment in the Stupino plant, the company stated, will allow Kimberly-Clark to support its continued growth in Russia and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

The active stage of construction of the plant began in 2009 and was completed earlier this year.

"Kimberly-Clark has made significant investments to establish our brands and build our organization in Russia since 1996. Kimberly-Clark has increased its sales 10 times in 10 years in the region. The decision to invest into development of local manufacturing became an important part of our strategy to support our continued growth," stated Thomas Falk, chairman of board of directors and chief executive officer of Kimberly-Clark. "This investment confirms the success we have had in building our business in Russia over the last 14 years and the confidence we have in delivering future growth for many years to come."

Currently, the plant has about 200 employees; 90% of them are from Stupino.

"The Stupino plant is one of biggest capital investments Kimberly-Clark has made over the last two years. But this is only the beginning," said Jonathan Tarr, managing director of Kimberly-Clark Eastern Europe. "The facility was built with the ability to add further capacity as appropriate. We see the opening of the plant as a major step in the development of Russia’s hygiene and personal care industry, which will get new energy due to the addition of our new production facility."