Chief secretary of the Union of Bulgarian Brewers, Peter Paunkov, said that Bulgarian beer consumption had dropped by 2% in the first half of 2002 if compared with the same period of 2001 and totaled 1.925 hectoliters. The drop is being attributed to the unprecedented wet weather during May and June, the fact that made the sales not as prolific as other years, a Dnevnik report reveals. Local brewers hope to compensate the week sales of the first half by a successful business in the second half of 2002.

In the mean time Heineken NV, Dutch brewing group, and Greek-registered Brewinvest, co-owned by Greece’s Hellenic Bottling, edge out their main competitor Interbrew in the first half of 2002 by seizing 23.5% of Bulgarian beer market share.

11 July, 2002