Belarusian breweries: “We stop working with Ukraine completely”

Belarusian beer manufacturers will have lost almost 500,000 dollars by the end of the year.

A duty of 55.29% of the cost of confections, dairy products, electric bulbs and mineral fertilisers will be imposed. The import of Belarusian beer, tyres and components for fridges will cost Ukrainian supplies a little bit more: the duty will be 60.05%. The rules will be in force until the end of 2016 or 2017. They come into force in ten days, Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi writes.

“We've already discussed the problem with Ukrainian suppliers. They said our cooperation was over. Taking into account the growth of the hryvnia exchange rate and the 60% duty, the price of our beer will double and exceed the price of German beer,” a top manager of a big Belarusian brewery explains. “We supplied 25,000 dals (250,000 litres) per month at a total cost of 87,000 dollars to Ukraine. It turns out that our losses will have reached half of a million dollars by the end of the year!”

Ukraine imposed these measures in response to the obligatory licensing of the imported goods introduced in Belarus in May and June. Since May 1, all beer importers have to obtain licences. Similar licences were introduced for importers of chocolate and pasta on June 1. The only exception was made for Russia and Kazakhstan, members of the Customs Union. Ukrkondprom asked the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine to launch an investigation.

“The inter-agency commission on international trade heard the report of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine on July 1, 2014, […] and adopted the decision “On the fact of discriminatory and unfriendly actions of the Republic of Belarus in relation to Ukrainian confections and on the use of necessary measures”, under which special duties will be imposed on such Belarusian goods imported to Ukraine,” the official newspaper Uryadovy Kuryer writes.

Ukraine is Belarus's second biggest importer after Russia. For example, Belarus sold 320 tonnes to chocolate (3.2 million of 100g chocolate bars) and more than 8 million of 0.5l bottles of beer to its southern neighbour last year.