English

No beer imported from Ukraine in May

No beer was imported by Belarus from Ukraine this past May as a result of the introduction of trade restrictions, according to official statistics.

Belarus imported 940,000 decaliters of beer in May, down by a quarter compared with the previous month. The lion's share of beer imports came from Russia.

Belarus imported $7.1 million worth of beer from Ukraine in the first four months of this year.

By its April 18 directive, the Council of Ministers of Belarus made imports of beer from countries outside the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia subject to licensing. To obtain a license, importers have to sign agreements on the minimum prices of beer with Belarusian authorities.

Ukrainian breweries had not yet agreed with Belarus on the minimum prices of their beer as of early June. The breweries feared that they would be priced out of the Belarusian market if they agreed to Minsk’s terms.

Speaking at a government conference on April 10, Alyaksandr Lukashenka described Belarusian beer as better and healthier than imported beer, and said that the country needed to take measures to limit the share of imports in the domestic beer market. // BelaPAN