Wine boom expected in Belarus this summer
The alcohol import quotas in Belarus were abolished in January 2008. Now, the government has approved the list of official importers who have no limitations on the volume of imports, according to Alena Kavalyova, a press secretary of the Ministry of Trade.
“The commission has finished its work and has defined the list of organizations that will import alcohol products to Belarus. Every company will supply alcohol into this country, in accordance with its specialization”, Kavalyova said.
ERB: Are there any import volume limitations?
Kavalyova: No
It is worth noting that these 15 selected importers are allowed to supply foreign liquor only up till October. Afterwards, they will allegedly have to undergo re-registration. In the view of Marina Gulyaeva, an economic observer with the business weekly BelGazeta, the new system of alcohol imports in Belarus has factually preserved the quotas.
“Despite the declared scrapping of quotas, they do exist. It is proved by the practice when an importing company files a statement with the Trade Ministry, mentioning the quantity of liquor to be imported. It turns out that the quantity of all alcohol beverages is divided for the whole year. As far as I understand, this is done in order to track who imports what and how much”, Marina Gulyaeva says.
The protection of domestic producers is a reason behind the new system of quarterly licenses for the import of alcohol. Marina Gulyaeva believes that thease measures can be described as a disrespect of consumers.
“The government’s action is a demonstration of disrespect to local consumers who should have the right of choice. In reality, the authorities are not doing anything new. They did the same thing in the tobacco and seafood market. There is no stability in the market. But if we can’t talk about stability as we don’t even know what happens in October, the market will not be developing”.
The head of sales at Pernor Rikar Minsk, one of the leading importers of fine liquor, told the European Radio for Belarus, that the company was set to increase the import volume by 50 percent even when it is not clear whether the licenses would be extended in October.
“Our company is widening the assortment of imported wines. More fine wines will appear in stores. It will be a two-time increase in supplies”.
It is noteworthy that this situation in the alcohol market is far from stability, because none of the selected importers can strike deals with foreign producers even till October.
“Despite the declared liberalization of the alcohol market, it is not taking place in reality. Importers are allowed to operate only from May through October. It is yet to be known what happens in October”.
Whatever happens, stores in Belarus will definitely stock up on the foreign-made alcohol this summer. Stay tuned to the European Radio for Belarus and check our web site euroradio.fm to find out what happens next.
