deconsolidation. Other operating expenses reflects the impact of an increase in pension costs and higher short-term incentive costs, partially offset by savings generated from the Company's ongoing productivity initiatives. The increase in our pension expense was primarily attributable to the significant decline in the value of our pension plan assets precipitated by the credit crisis and financial system instability in 2008. As a result of this decline, along with a decrease in the discount rate, our 2009 pension costs increased by $103 million. 

In 2010, the Company incurred other operating charges of approximately $819 million, which consisted of $478 million associated with the Company's productivity, integration and restructuring initiatives, $250 million related to charitable contributions, $81 million due to transaction costs incurred in connection with our acquisition of CCE's North American business and the sale of our Norwegian and Swedish bottling operations to New CCE and $10 million of charges related to bottling activities in Eurasia. The Company's integration activities include costs associated with the integration of CCE's North American business, as well as the integration of 18 German bottling and distribution operations acquired in 2007. The charitable contributions were primarily attributable to a cash donation to The Coca-Cola Foundation. Refer to Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to the transaction costs. 

In 2010, the Company began an integration initiative related to our acquisition of CCE's North American business, which resulted in total expenses of $135 million. These expenses were primarily related to both internal and external costs associated with the development and design of our future operating framework. These charges impacted the North America and Corporate operating segments. Our acquisition of CCE's North American business closed on October 2, 2010. Refer to Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. 

We believe this acquisition will result in an evolved franchise system that will enable us to better serve the unique needs of the North American market. The creation of a unified operating system will strategically position us to better market and distribute our nonalcoholic beverage brands in North America. We are reconfiguring our manufacturing, supply chain and logistics operations to achieve cost reductions over time. Once fully integrated, we expect to generate operational synergies of at least

$350 million per year. We anticipate that these operational synergies will be phased in over the next four years, and that we will begin to fully realize the annual benefit from these synergies in the fourth year. We currently expect to realize approximately $140 million to $150 million of these synergies in 2011. 

Upon completion of the CCE transaction, we combined the management of the acquired North American business with the management of our existing foodservice business, Minute Maid and Odwalla juice businesses, North America supply chain operations and Company-owned bottling operations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a unified