Nestlé has confirmed production at a new factory in Ukraine is now planned to start in the fourth quarter.

Output at the site in Volyn oblast in north-west Ukraine was slated to begin earlier this year.

The facility, located in the village of Smolyhiv some 40 miles from the border with Poland, will make noodle products.

Nestlé already has a factory four miles to the east in Torchyn, which manufactures sauces. The company, which says it employs around 5,500 staff in Ukraine, has two other production sites in the country: a coffee and confectionery facility in Lviv and a noodles plant in Kharkiv.

A spokesperson for the Swiss giant said they could not comment on the reason for the delay.

However, Nestlé has said the two sites in Smolyhiv and nearby Torchyn will be “the European regional hub” for its “culinary products category”. The sites will supply customers in Ukraine and other, undisclosed markets in Europe.

Nestlé said the opening of the new site will lead to 300 to 400 new jobs being “gradually created in manufacturing”.

The world’s largest food maker has featured on Ukraine’s ‘international sponsors of war’ list, which up until recently had been available to the public online. Food companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, Mars, Bonduelle and PepsiCo were also listed to raise awareness of large companies continuing to work in Russia following the invasion.

The list was moved out of the public space following appeals from several countries over a lack of regulatory framework in managing the list, as well as claims of the “negative impact” it was having on bureaucratic decision-making to “counter Russian aggression” in Ukraine.

In Nestlé’s 2023 annual report, the company listed six factories in Russia, producing beverages, dairy products, “nutrition and health science” products, prepared dishes, confectionery and pet food.

On its website, the KitKat maker states it has stopped advertising and “suspended further capital investment” in the country, while “continuing to fulfill our obligations toward our employees”.

Nestlé adds: “For the foreseeable future, these measures will apply as our operations in Russia remain focused on providing essential and basic foods to the local people.”