Alcohol producers may pay excise duties upon receipt of revenue until 2018

According to the presidential decree No 311 of August 17th, 2016, alcohol producers may continue to pay excise duty to the state budget upon receipt of revenues until 2018. This measure was adopted in order to stabilize the financial situation in the alcohol production. Alcohol manufacturers are one of the major contributors to the budget. As a result, some enterprises in the industry may report profits and the price for alcohol may remain unchanged or even slightly reduce. Retail sales of alcohol may somewhat increase and the market share of counterfeit alcohol products may reduce. In order to protect the domestic alcohol market, the Belarusian authorities may introduce administrative restrictions on foreign-made low-price alcohol products.