Alcohol Production in Decline in Belarus :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarus suffers from decreasingly low rates of vodka, beer and liquors production. As reported by the Ministry of statistics and analysis, in January-February the production of alcohol beverages reduced by 14,3% as compared to the analogous period last year, whereas the production of breweries contracted by 21,7%.

The worst is the case with the production of brandy - a 58,8% fall. Over the two months they produced only 7 thousand deciliters of this beverage (0,014 of the half-liter bottle of brandy per every citizen).

Alcohol-free beverages were produced 13,6% and mineral water 3,9% less than previously.

Meanwhile, the production of vine escalated by 39,7%, champagne - by 38,9%.

Despite the significant reduction in vodka and liquors production, the reserves of these products are gradually growing at the stores` warehouses. By January 1, 2001 these reserves amounted to 285 thousand deciliters, whereas by March 1 their number grew to 426 thousand or 8 million 520 thousand half-liter bottles, which is 52,3% of the average monthly production rate.

At the same time the sales of vodka and alcohol in January-February 2001, as compared to the analogous period last year, lessened by 4,3%.