FAS SUPPORTED SMALL BREWERIES

Discussion at the II Extraordinary Congress of the brewery industry of the Russian Federation focused on the basic legislative initiatives in the brewery sector that can potentially affect the state of competitive environment in the sector and ways to overcome crises

The event took place on 7 June 2019 under the auspices of the National Union of Beer and Beverages Producers in Gostiny Dvor.

The agenda included the industry risks with regard to legislative initiatives, in the part of amendments to No. 171 Law “On state regulation of production and circulation of ethanol, alcohol and alcohol-containing products and on restricting consumption (drinking) of alcohol products”.

Representatives of small and medium Russian brewing production enterprises and FAS took part in the event, including Head of FAS Fiscal Control Department Vladimir Mishelovin.

Representatives of the brewery sector pointed out at possible increase of administrative burden to the level applied to producers of strong alcoholic beverages.

“Free competition is possible only under the frame of the legal field i.e., only among bona fide market participants. Implementing the legislative initiatives in question must facilitate creating relevant conditions for eliminating illegal products. Members, of the Russian brewery sector, however, should more actively outline their position through unions and other professional associations so that authorities can react timely and take into consideration the brewers’ positions, making decisions on the measures of state regulation”, said Vladimir Mishelovin.