Restaurateurs asked the Ministry of Finance to postpone the increase in excise taxes on beer and beer-based beverages for one year.

Increasing excise taxes from 26 rubles per liter to 30 rubles per liter in 2025 and bringing them to 32 rubles in 2027 could have an “extremely negative” impact on the business climate and would mainly affect the hotel industry, the document says.

After the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions and import restrictions, restaurateurs “mainly depend on domestic producers of beer products,” Bukharov said. At the same time, in their words, the latter have difficulties with raw materials, packaging and spare parts for imported equipment.

In addition, the financial burden on brewers has increased due to the introduction of mandatory labeling, a register of manufacturers of beer products and the implementation of the Unified State Automated Information System in the segment of retail sales of beer, cider and mead in supply. of restaurant services, highlighted the FRiO.

The association asked to postpone the increase in excise taxes for one year, followed by a gradual increase over two years of 4 rubles per liter, that is, 2 rubles per year. FRiO also supported Opora Rossii’s recent proposal to introduce minimum retail prices for beer, cider and mead, similar to those for hard alcohol.

• The law on increasing excise taxes on beer and beer-based beverages was submitted to the State Duma on September 30 and the document is now being considered in the Federation Council.
• In early October, the Association of Beer, Malt and Beverage Producers warned that a sharp increase in excise taxes could lead to the freezing of investment projects worth 33.5 billion rubles.