Ukraine’s beer production continues to suffer because of the war

Ukraine | Compared with Ukraine’s GDP, which will crash by an estimated 35 percent this year, domestic beer production has fared slightly better. According to Ukrpivo, an industry body, beer output in the January-to-September period was only down 30 percent – to 9.3 million hl – year-on-year. Ukrainian beer exports decreased by 5.6 percent, while beer imports increased by nearly 7 percent and exceeded USD 72 million by value.

The hike in beer imports may partly be attributed to AB-InBev-Efes ceasing domestic production. It shuttered its three breweries at the beginning of the war and turned to pushing its imported beers instead.

Chernigivske re-enters its home market

At the end of September, the market leader brought the popular Ukrainian beer brand Chernigivske back to the country. Brewed elsewhere in Europe, AB-InBev-Efes put the brand on a four-week promotion at the retailer Silpo, where punters could purchase two cans for the symbolic price of UAH 0.2 (USD 0.02). The promotion ended on 24 October.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AB-InBev has launched Chernigivske in 14 markets around the world, where it is sold at a regular price because the beer is brewed specifically to support the Ukrainians. AB-InBev pledged to donate all profits from the sale of Chernigivske to humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine.

Before the war, Ukraine had a population of 43 million people. Since the beginning of the invasion, some 8 million people have fled the country and some 7 million are believed to have been displaced internally.