The increased purchasing power of the population in Ukraine in 2017 enabled Nestle (Switzerland) to increase sales of products in the country by 2% in natural terms over the year, Nestle Managing Director for Ukraine and Moldova Ansgar Bornemann has said.

"According to our estimates, the growth in 2018 will be about 4%," he said during the traditional macroeconomic discussion for the current year organized by the European Business Association (EBA).

The expert noted the growth rates of Nestle in Ukraine outstrip the average figures in the country. Therefore if the domestic market increases by 4% in 2018, the Nestle index will be even higher.

At the same time, he said the company's operations are profitable, but did not specify the figures.

According to the managing director of Nestle, Ukraine needs a higher economic growth rate to restore its position in the regional markets of Central and Eastern Europe than the existing 2%, as the neighboring countries are growing at a faster pace.

According to him, Nestle plans to invest in quality improvement in 2018, but there are no plans for investing in new production facilities.

Bornemann added the company is increasing exports of products manufactured at Ukrainian facilities.

Nestle began operations in Ukraine in 1994 with the opening of a representative office. It promotes such international brands as Nescafe, Nesquik, Nuts, Friskies, KitKat, etc.