Belarus & Latvia: Krinitsa brewery plans to intensify beer shipments to Latvia

Krinitsa, the largest beer producer in Belarus, intends to expand beer supplies to the Latvian market, Krinitsa general director Grigory Petkevich told Interfax, the news agency released October 25.

Krinitsa recently presented its products at the Riga Food-2006 international exhibition and signed a new contract on beer supplies to the Latvian market, he said. Additional consignments of beer were sent to Latvia in the first half of 2006, he said. Latvia is also interested in supplies of kvas (a lightly fermented traditional beverage) produced by Krinitsa, he said.

Two Krinitsa brands - Alexandriya and Krinitsa Export – were awarded gold medals at the Svato Piva professional beer and non-alcoholic beverage competition in Kyiv in early September, Petkevich said. The company's kvas received a silver medal.

Krinitsa makes eight name-brand beers, including the licensed beer Caltenberg. The company produces beer in glass bottles, PET bottles, aluminum cans and kegs. The canned assortment consists of five brands: Alexandriya, Alexandriya Light, Krinitsa Classic, Krinitsa Premium and Krinitsa Export. The company's branches Polotskoye Pivo, Zhigulyovskoye, Yachmennoye and Krinitsa Dark produce the three different types of Krinitsa beer, he said.

Krinitsa breweries produced 1.05 million hl of beer in January- August 2006, up 14.2% year-on-year, he said. Beer production increased 15.2% in comparable prices in the period.

The company has set up a distribution network in the country to sell its products. The network currently consists of 11 branches in all regional centers and a number of large Belarussian cities. Krinitsa also shipped its products to the Russian market in 2006.

Petkevich said the company exported more than 15,000 hl of beer in the first eight months of 2006, which is significantly higher than last year's exports.

Krinitsa has two breweries in Minsk and two other branches - the Nesvizhsky Brewery and Polotskoye Pivo.

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