United Kingdom | Wetherspoon hopes to sell off 39 of its 842 venues across the UK amid the cost-of-living crisis. The sales are reportedly due to spiralling inflation, pushing up bills for staff and supplies. Luckily, the pubs will remain open and trading under the Wetherspoon brand until they have found a buyer.

Belgium | What a career change. When Carlos Brito stepped down as CEO of AB-InBev in May 2021, many suspected he would retreat from the limelight and just tend to his private investments. How wrong they were. Mr Brito will become CEO of Carglass parent Belron, the Belgian group D’Ieteren, which owns just over half of Belron, announced on 17 November.

Denmark | When Carlsberg put its Russian business up for sale in March this year, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it said it would leave the country by the end of 2022.

Russia | Beer with an ABV of 6 percent or higher has seen its popularity surge over the past 12 months. According to NielsenIQ, volume sales of alcoholorific beers have risen by almost 4 percent in the major off-licence chains, capturing a share of 11 percent in sales at the end of October 2022. This was reported by the Russian newspaper Kommersant on 11 November.

Germany | How could a fairly vapid German industry rumour suddenly become a hot topic for a Russian trade publication - unless Russia’s hybrid warfare now includes spreading half-truths about beer and brewers?

France – Heineken’s list of brewery closures is getting longer. After Edinburgh’s Caledonian brewery, Belgium’s Affligem brewery, Romania’s Constanta brewery and the Dutch Brand brewery, Heineken now said it will shutter its brewery in Schiltigheim, one of France’s largest.

United Kingdom – The craft brewer Dark Star seems to have fallen victim to the corporate cost-cutters. Its owner, Asahi, will close the Sussex brewery at the end of December and shift production to its other craft brewery, Greenwich’s Meantime.

United Kingdom | Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) announced on 7 November that it will sell its Eagle Brewery to long-term partner, Spanish brewer Damm. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Russia | Russian liquor store chains have adopted the Starbucks strategy: they have opened outlets in suburban areas close to where shoppers live. This year, specialised liquor chains have maintained their opening rates at almost last year’s rate, the Russian newspaper Delovoy Petersburg reported on 2 November.

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.