The Netherlands | Heineken, on 1 August, posted higher-than-expected first-half earnings, as consumers bought more beer despite inflationary pressure. However, the world’s number two brewer shelved its margin target for 2023 as costs rise.

Russia | Sometimes sanctions against Russia take a long time to bite. In late July, shops in Moscow were still selling off stockpiles of international beer brands, Reuters’ correspondents reported.

Germany | A Munich court is to decide over the summer if Munich’s Paulaner brewery may continue to call its cola+orange lemonade mix “Spezi”, or whether it will need to pay royalties to the trademark owner, the Augsburg brewer Riegele.

Ireland | Drinks company Diageo, which owns Guinness, is to build a EUR 200 million (USD 205 million) brewery near Newbridge in County Kildare, some 60 km to the west of Dublin. It is expected to go on-stream in 2024 with a capacity of 2 million hl.

France | It has taken French anti-terrorism prosecutors almost a year to open an investigation into allegations of potential complicity in war crimes, made against Groupe Castel in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Europe | The easing of covid restrictions has driven punters back into bars, despite soaring inflation in the US, Europe, and other parts of the world.

Russia | Beer production in Russia is estimated to decline between 4 and 5 percent in 2022, due to rising production costs and decreasing consumer purchasing power, Oraz Durdyev, President of AB InBev Efes’s Russian unit, told Russian media on 7 July 2022.

Belgium | To support Ukraine, AB-InBev launched its Ukrainian beer brand Chernigivske in several markets around the world in May. The brewer promised to donate at least USD 5 million from this initiative to humanitarian relief efforts. But Ukrainian staff, who were offered to come to Belgium for shelter, could soon find themselves stranded in Brussels, the website brusselstimes.com reported on 10 July 2022.

Czech Republic | Faced with paying over USD 600 million in an arbitrage judgment, Czechs are thinking about privatizing the Budvar brewery, heir to the Budweiser moniker and unending court battles with Anheuser-Busch (today AB-InBev). Could this century-old beer battle, hopped with nationalism and language identity, be over?

Austria | The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) has confirmed that it carried out a search at Brau Union's headquarters in Linz at the beginning of April this year. The watchdog told the Austrian TV network, ORF, on 23 June, that it had received complaints against Brau Union for market abuse which warranted the search.