Belarusian Beer Is Not For Sale :: Charter'97 :: News

The government of Belarus determined how it could help promote the national brewery on foreign money, not losing control over the industry. They plan to attract the credits of the foreign “Priorbank” instead of selling their companies to the Russian “Baltika”, “Ochakovo” and “Pivovarni Ivana Taranova”. The administration of the bank, which belongs to the Austrian Raiffeisenbank and the European Bank for reconstruction and development, is utterly astonished by the news. According to the Belarusian Association of brewers, last year Belarusians drank over 40mln deciliters of beer, around 80% of beer was imported, mainly from Russia. Annually the production of domestic beer in the country contracts by a third.

A decision to give up foreign investments was taken by the Belarusian government at its yesterday’s session. Instead they intend to “actively search for inner resources for the technical sophistication and modernization of the country’s breweries”, “Interfax” quotes first Vice-President of “Belgospischeprom” concern Aleksei Rubets as saying. A range of joint-stock companies, including “Krynitsa”, “Brest beer” and “Dednovo” will pass over their control stock of shares to “Priorbank”, which will carry out further financing, said Rubets. Same destiny will befall other companies after they turn into joint stocks. The government plans to attract $61,5mln in credits over 2003-2005 for the modernization purposes.

As explained by the employee of the investment department of the Belarusian Ministry of economy, the plan, laid out by Rubets, is part of the governmental program on the preservation of state control over the beer-making industry, which is considered the “national treasure”. He pinpointed that upon the expiration of two years “Priorbank” may even own part of the breweries’ stock.

The statesmen’s plan on the protection of national breweries came as a total surprise both to the foreign investors and to the Russians, who planned to invest means into the Belarusian companies. As said by one of the staffers of the “Priorbank”, who asked not to mention his identity in press, the bank’s administration has learnt only now about the tasks, which the Belarusian government set before it.

According to the bank’s employee, the development of breweries within the framework of state program will hardly become an attractive project. “Most likely the government will plead with the bank to earmark credits, unprofitable to the bank and which will barely ever return to it,” – said the “Priorbank’s” official.