The Union of Russian Brewers (PSA; unites over 100 enterprises), which previously called for an increase in duties on the export of barley and malt, proposed to the head of the Ministry of Economy, Maxim Reshenikov, to raise import duties on malt beer and beer drinks to € 1 per liter. Now, according to the PSA, the import duty on malt beer ranges from € 0.018 to € 0.04. According to the chairman of the PSA board, Daniil Briman, the current conditions lead to “a reduction in revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation.”
“The Union of Russian Producers of Beer and Soft Drinks asks you to increase import customs duties on brewing products as soon as possible,” RIA Novosti quotes a letter from Mr. Briman. The PSA notes that the current import duties on it are lower than on raw materials, equipment, wine and spirits. The letter notes that “a significant part of beer is imported into the Russian Federation at transfer prices, which are significantly lower than the export prices of foreign producers, which leads to a reduction in revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation.”
The PSA does not include the largest beer producers – AB InBev Efes, Baltika and Heineken. In 2020, during the conflict over the minimum price for beer, these companies withdrew from the union and founded the Association of Beer Producers (ABP). Commenting on the PSA’s proposal to raise export duties and introduce quotas, Vyacheslav Mamontov, the executive director of the APP, said that the members of the association do not experience a shortage of raw materials.
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