Beer, beer-based beverages, cider, mead and Poiret could increase by 10-15% in 2023. This will happen following the adoption of a law on the introduction of a register of manufacturers of these products. An expert told RTVI how the initiative will affect consumers.
State Duma accepted at third reading, a bill providing for the creation of a register of producers of beer, beer-based beverages, cider, mead and pear. According to the document, it will be impossible for non-registered companies to produce all of these products. In addition, brewers with a production capacity of more than 100,000 dekaliters per year will need to install product accounting equipment on their lines. Now such a standard is provided for those who produce more than 300,000 dekaliters per year. The bill comes into force on September 1, 2023.
According to Vadim Drobiz, director general of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFRRA), following the passage of the law, the cost of finished products could increase by 10% to 15%. This will be at the expense of additional costs for manufacturers, including the need to install finished product accounting equipment, the expert explains. The price hike, according to its forecast, should come before the end of 2023.
Stricter industry regulation, as usual, can be beneficial for large transnational brewing companies, which due to the large volume of production operate in the lowest price segment, says Vadim Drobiz. According to him, over the past 15 years, their share has decreased considerably in favor of small producers. Thus, if in 2007 the share of transnational companies on the beer market reached 92%, at the end of 2022, it was only 65%.
The idea of creating a register of producers of beer, beer-based drinks, cider, mead and pear was discussed for five years. For the first time this measure in 2018 Free The Ministry of Finance as an alternative to the introduction of licenses for manufacturers of these products, which was not supported by market players or the ministry itself. However, the prospect of setting up a register did not suit the brewers either, since the conditions for entering it were, according to them, as harsh as for obtaining a licence.
The original version of the bill, drawn up as early as 2019, provided for a reduction in the capacity threshold for companies, from which they should not install meters to change and account for finished products, from 300,000 to 50,000 dekaliters per year. In addition, the fee for registration in the register was set at 800,000 rubles. Subsequently, the company managed to soften the requirements, in particular, the threshold was 100,000 dekaliters, and the duty – 10,000 rubles.
The new version of the bill, submitted to the State Duma in 2020, was suitable for transnational companies – AB InBev Efes, Baltika and Heineken (still continue to work in Russia – note RTVI), but small companies remained against. They have repeatedly tried postpone the adoption of the normative act, referring to the fact that otherwise there may be a sharp reduction in the production of beer in the country due to unjustified costs of market players.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in Russia. According to the Rosalkogolregulirovanie, the volume of alcohol production in the country in 2022 amounted to 1.01 billion dekaliters, while the majority – about 811.8 million dekaliters – fell on beer.