September 5 2003, 13:03 APK-Inform

Brewing association suggests cancelling import duty for malt barley

Ukraine's association of brewers "Ukrpyvo" has applied to the Cabinet of Ministers with a suggestion to reduce import duty for malting barley, Director General of Slavuta Malt Plant Mykola Dubyna told to a press-conference September 5.

He said the association had suggested setting up a zero duty rate until December 31, 2003. Such an initiative was caused by a deficit of good-quality raw material and high prices for it.

According to the acting Director of Association Ukrpyvo Halina Korenkova, who was also present at the press-conference, the price for good-quality malting barley last year was 500 to 550 hryvnias per tonne, while this year it has already reached 750 to 1,100 hryvnias per tonne (5.33 hryvnias = $1). "The price of the malt will increase accordingly", Ms. Korenkova said.

She said the amount of import malting barley, needed by the industry, was about 150,000 tonnes. It is necessary for improvement of quality of local raw material. She said, according to preliminary estimates, there had been harvested about 2 million tonnes of malting barley, but about 70 percent of this amount was out of standards, needed for production of high-quality malt.

Current import duty for malt barley in Ukraine is 20 euros per tonne.