Ukraine`s Finance Ministry has published a draft resolution on its website proposing to increase the minimum price of alcohol.
The document has been released for public debate.
Earlier, on August 12, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade also proposed that the price of vodka and alcoholic beverages be raised by 24%, the price of cognac be increased by 24.9-30.7% and the price of wine be hiked by 22-55.7%, according to the report. The ministry has proposed to determine minimum prices at the level of the average prices seen in the market of legal producers, wholesale and retail companies.
The ministry said the current prices do not meet the actual cost of alcohol production and sales, in view of the higher price of spirit and the rate of excise tax, necessitating a revision of the minimum price of alcohol.
The ministry believed that this step would result in significant reduction in the profit margins of shadow alcohol producers and Ukrainian citizens would buy higher quality alcohol.
UNIAN memo. The minimum wholesale and retail prices of alcohol were last determined in 2008. Experts argue that such a price regulation will stem the increase of low-quality products in the market. The Ukrvodka association has repeatedly pointed out the need to raise the minimum retail prices as they do not correspond with the real expenses incurred by economic entities during production of high-quality alcohol.
The current minimum retail price for a bottle of vodka (0.5 liter) is UAH 54.9 and for wine in glass containers (0.7 liter) is UAH 27.
