Russia: Brewers agree to further reduce plastic beer bottles size

The Russian beer union has agreed to further reduce the size of plastic beer bottles, it said on August 19, after calls by lawmakers for a ban on plastic beer containers to curb alcoholism.

Russian brewers sell nearly half their beer in plastic bottles, which are cheaper than glass.

Under draft legislation, Russia plans to restrict the use of plastic beer bottles. One bill implies eventually limiting bottle sizes to 0.5 litres, while another calls for a complete ban from January next year.

Andrei Gubka, head of The Union of Russian Brewers, told a news conference on August 19 that Russian brewers would stop producing beer in plastic bottles larger than 1.5 litres from July next year.

"We very much hope that our step ... will be taken positively (by regulators) and the discussion about limiting plastic packaging below 1.5 litres will be closed," Gubka, board chairman of Anheuser-Busch InBev's Russian unit, said.

Beer in plastic bottles larger than 1.5 litres accounts for 24 percent of the entire beer market in Russia, he said.

Gubka said the initiative could dent beer sales already hurt by the tightening of sales and advertising regulation and by an economic crisis, although he hoped the volumes would be redistributed in smaller plastic bottles and other containers.

Last year, Russian brewers voluntarily stopped making beer in bottles larger than 2.5 litres and larger than 2 litres for beer stronger than 6 percent.

Danish brewer Carlsberg, the No.1 in Russia, said on August 19 the Russian beer market contracted 9 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period of 2014.

22 August, 2015