The cost of imported beer after the increase in duties was estimated

The government’s proposal to increase duties on strong alcohol and beer, which is contained in the annex to the main directions of budget, tax and customs policy for 2027-2029, together with another increase in excise taxes by 6.5 percent, will lead to a noticeable increase in prices for goods from unfriendly countries. Fontanka writes about this.

For such beer, the duty will increase from 1.5 euros to 5 euros per liter. The head of the NP “Club of Alcohol Market Professionals” Maxim Chernigovsky indicated that as a result, a position that was sold at a price of 250-300 rubles per bottle will cost 450-500 rubles.

According to him, such a price arises if additional costs are completely transferred to the consumer. However, the growth will not be immediate, since retailers will first sell off previously imported stocks.

An independent expert on promoting food products in retail chains, Mikhail Lachugin, suggested that the actual increase in duty after consideration in the State Duma will be lower.

With the help of increasing fees, the authorities are looking for an additional source of income, but if you go too far, the total amount may not increase, but fall due to a reduction in imports. The materials for the draft federal budget say that the increase in duties on alcohol should bring in an additional 30 billion rubles over the next three years.

Chernigovsky noted that previous increases in duties have already hit supplies from unfriendly countries; now their share in the Russian market is around 4-5 percent of the total volume. If in April 2024 the duty was set at 0.1 euros per liter, then at the end of the same year it was increased tenfold, and in September 2025 - another one and a half times.

However, Lachugin points out that part of European beer is imported to Russia through friendly countries, which reduces the size of duties, and if the situation does not change, then the product going through such logistics chains should not increase in price too much.