Alcohol, Analytics, Estonia, Markets and Companies

"Based on actual receipts in the first six months of 2018, we estimate that full-year inflow of excise duty will total approximately 240 mln euros," the manager of the association, Peeter Vork, said.

"Cross-border trade between Estonia and Latvia has evolved on a very large scale over the past one-and-a-half years and there is no indication of stability or a peak having been achieved. Therefore we forecast that receipts of alcohol excise duties and related VAT receipts will decrease further this year and in the following years. It also deserves mention that receipts this year will be significantly smaller than the forecasts the Ministry of Finance has revised, so to speak, on multiple occasions," Vork said.

Inflow of the alcohol excise duty into the state budget in the first six months of this year totaled 119 mln euros, 2.9 mln euros or 2.4% less than during the same period last year. Compared with the first half of 2016, receipts were smaller by 8.9 mln euros.

The Estonian Breweries Association is an umbrella organization for major Estonian producers of beer and other low-alcohol beverages.