As a direct blow to small and medium-sized businesses, the increase in the excise duty on beer for small brewers foreseen by the Ministry of Finance, which should enter into force on January 1, 2024, was described as a direct blow to small and medium-sized businesses. This was commented by Mihail Durchev, owner of a craft brewery and chairman of the Association of independent breweries and Mihail Irinchev – member of the Board of the Association of Home Brewers in Bulgaria (ADPB), before “Sega”.
“For us, this is another signal from the state about how it perceives small and even medium-sized businesses in Bulgaria. The very fact that such an action is being discussed at all by the Ministry of Finance is strange. According to the current European directive, in a number of countries there are even excise tax reliefs for the small independent breweries. This is rather a worrying signal, because in this way small and medium-sized businesses, which are all Bulgarian, are being attacked. If they really think that with our excise money we will patch up the state budget, then that worries me ” commented Durchev.
He explained that currently, according to data from the Customs Agency, there are 38 small independent breweries in Bulgaria, including establishments with the status of breweries that produce beer on site. Of these, there are 4 larger enterprises that qualify as a small brewery (ie their production does not exceed 200,000 hectoliters per year). Last year, all these 38 enterprises brought in about BGN 2.2 million to the state in the form of excise tax.
“Will we fix the state budget with these two million? Given that our production is expensive, the cost price is quite high due to the smaller volume of production, the prices of the beers we produce are not at all low,” commented Durchev.
Home brewers in Bulgaria also have problems. Practitioners of this hobby have been wanting it to be legalized for years, because in practice they are currently outside the law, but they also do not find understanding from the state, although again in the other EU member states the practice of home brewing is perfectly regulated.
The member of the Board of the Association of Home Brewers in Bulgaria (ADPB) Mihail Irinchev commented on their case as follows: “In reality, we home brewers do not have the right to practice this hobby under the threat that at a signal from the Customs Agency they can come and confiscate our pots, the thermometers, the production. It is, to say the least, strange and funny for the 21st century in Europe.”
Due to the reluctance of the state to legalize hobby brewers, they are currently deprived of the opportunity to organize home beer festivals, as well as competitions – which are widespread throughout Europe.
However, the expected cooperation was not met by the Ministry of Finance and even in an unofficial response a refusal was received.
“There are several reasons put forward for this answer. One is that beer was not a traditional drink for our lands. I do not think it is within the Ministry of Finance to give such a historically grounded answer and added that the indirect benefit of home brewing is considerable , since approximately one in 100 hobby brewers then open a craft brewery, i.e. they help the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Bulgaria.
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2023-10-07 18:00:00
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