Tiraspol, 29 March. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The Supreme Council has passed on first reading amendments reducing the excise duty on alcohol production. The corresponding bill has been drafted by the head of the Supreme Council committee on economic policy, Alexander Korshunov. The draft law provides for a reduction in the rate of excise duty on alcohol production from $5.12 per 1 decilitre to $1, that is, bringing it to the level of the excise duty on alcohol imports.
This is intended to support local ethanol manufacturers. The government has already given its positive opinion on the bill.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development, reducing the excise duty on alcohol production will make the alcohol produced in Pridnestrovie, primarily by Bendery's Biokhim, competitive in the local market.
During the discussion of this bill in the government, Sergey Obolonik noted that today the excise duty on alcohol imports is five times lower than the duty on its production, which places domestic alcohol producers on an unequal footing with their foreign counterparts.
According to the ministry's estimates, by the end of 2016, the cost of the foreign alcohol after the payment of the import excise duty was $0.79 per litre.
With the proposed one-dollar excise duty, the alcohol produced by Biokhim will cost $0.72, while with the current five-dollar duty its price will be 43% higher.
