Azerbaijan: Beer output up 32.5% in Q1 2021

Azerbaijan increased the volume of wine production by 30.9 percent in the first three months of 2021, Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov announced via Twitter on May 31.

Jabbarov noted that production of beer increased by 32.5 percent, while brandy and brandy materials by 10.6 times compared to the same period last year.

He stressed that “reforms aimed at protecting the interests of domestic market producers and transparency in the excise products sector are bearing fruit.”

In yet another Twit post, the minister noted that the amount of taxable tobacco products increased by 94.1 percent in the first three months of 2021.

“The turnover of tobacco products producers increased by 82.4 percent. The excise tax revenues increased by 54.1 percent compared to the previous year,” Jabbarov added.

The minister underlined that the main driving force of economic growth in Azerbaijan is a transformation from oil to the non-oil economy.

It should be noted that earlier Azerbaijan’s Economy Ministry and the country’s largest brewing company Carlsberg signed a memorandum of understanding that stipulates that Carlsberg Azerbaijan will work on localization of raw material base, modernization of the enterprise, reduction of losses and improvement of safety measures in the workplace. Under the MoU, it is also planned to invest more than AZN 25 million ($14.7M) in export of beer produced in the country, as well as in commercial projects aimed at the development of production in 2021-2025.