OREANDA-NEWS. November 7, 2012. Belarus’ OJSC Olivaria, a brewery based in the city of Minsk, has started brewing Holsten brand beer on a licence agreement, Olivaria CEO Mikhail Chechenev told a press-conference on Thursday.

Under the licence agreement, Olivaria is authorized to produce and distribute Holsten beer on the Belarusian market, Chechenev said.

The licence agreement with Holsten does not have a time framework, Chechenev said.

It took the Belarusian company less than six months to arrange for Holsten beer production, Olivaria Vice CEO Nadezhda Deshkovets told the press-conference.

The time is right to introduce a new premium beer brand to the Belarusian market. Olivaria-produced Holsten beer will be available in glass bottles and aluminium cans.

In the meantime, Olivaria does not expect Belarus’ beer market to expand in 2013, Chechenev told reporters.

Beer excise rate in the Single Economic Space differ considerably: in Kazakhstan they are much lower than in Russia, while in Belarus beer excises are slightly lower than in Russia, Chechenev said. “Next year the market will not grow as beer prices will be growing faster than inflation,” said the company director.

The growth prospects of Belarus’ beer market have a lot to do with the price. “The share of excises in a bottle of beer, which stood at 6% in August 2011, has grown to around 20% by October 2012,” Chechenev said.

Belarus’ beer market fears lest they should introduce the same excise tax rates for beer and alcohol, which will be counterproductive for the growth of the beer market, Chechenev said.

Olivaria was founded in 1864 and transformed into a joint stock company in 1994. Olivaria became part of Carlsberg A/S in May 2008.