Alcohol, Estonia, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Retail
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Tuesday, 19.03.2024, 13:30
Liviko increased its economic success due to Latvian border trade
“Last year
was very difficult from the viewpoint of the alcohol company, as normal
economic activities were disturbed by endless excise increases and the impacts
of these on economic activities. Last year saw periods before two alcohol
excise rises when alcohol was largely in storage. Adaptation to the tax and
market changes required a lot of additional resources and a big part of the
Estonian sales of alcohol now goes through Latvia. By the end of the year, we
were forced to conclude that alcohol excise had been accrued to the state
budget only 10% more than before the period of soaring excise increase, while
the excise rate itself had grown by 32 % – this clearly shows that the tax
ceiling of strong alcohol has long been exceeded ,” said Chairman of the Board of
AS Liviko Janek Kalvi.
The
domestic sales turnover of own production increased last year by 17% in
comparison with 2015. There were also advance purchases before the increase in
excise at the beginning of the year and at the end, and growth in the export of
own production by 8%. The export of own production was significantly
facilitated by Latvian border trade, but also by partial restoration of Russian
and Ukrainian sales after the economic crisis. Also, sales success in the duty
free and travel trading sector must be considered important.
Within own
production, sales of gins grew most, which was supported by the success of
Crafter´s London Dry Gin. Crafter’s London Dry Gin won the prize of best
Estonian alcoholic beverage and Golden Egg for the best package last year, and
to date it has brought home several medals from international contests for its
excellent content and package.
“The
products of Liviko as a producer of
quality alcohol are founded on careful, internationally breakthrough capable
product development and are intended for cognisant and responsible audience.
For us it is important that the premium class brands of Liviko – Vana Tallinn, Viru Valge and Crafter’s London Dry Gin –
are well represented at different external markets and in the tax free and duty
free sectors. For example, an important cooperation agreement was concluded
with one of the biggest duty free operators in the world, Gebr. Heinemann,
which only selects the world’s well known and most loved brands,” said Chairman
of the Board of AS Liviko Janek Kalvi.
AS Liviko works in nearly 30 export
markets, the biggest of which are Russia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany,
Ukraine and the United States of America.
Sales of
the Latvian subsidiary of AS Liviko –
SIA Liviko – increased by 11% in
comparison with 2015, reaching 30.2 mln euros, and business profit grew by 67%,
reaching 1 mln euros. Return on sales of the Lithuanian subsidiary UAB
Liviko decreased last year in comparison with 2015 by 13.5%, to 11.5 mln euros,
but the company managed to achieve a profit of 113,000 euros after important
restructuring.
AS Liviko is a quality alcohol producer with a
119-year-old tradition, established in 1898. In 2016, Liviko Group employed 301 people. AS Liviko has developed an alcohol distribution and wholesale
network in Estonia, Latvia as well as in Lithuania, through which imported
brands from other producers of quality alcohol of the world are also marketed
beside own production. AS Liviko
belongs to three biggest alcohol companies in the Baltics, and it pays as much
attention to the import of alcoholic drinks as it does to production.