Russia weighs raising duties on beer from ‘unfriendly’ countries to €5 per liter
Russia is considering raising the import duty on beer from designated “unfriendly” countries from €1.5 to €5 per liter as part of its 2027–2029 fiscal plans. The proposal follows a fall in direct beer imports and rapid growth in EU shipments to Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Duty could more than triple
The Russian government is considering higher import duties on spirits, beer and beer-based drinks from countries officially classified as “unfriendly.” According to Fontanka, the proposal appears in an annex to the government’s main budget, tax and customs policy guidelines for 2027–2029, submitted to the State Duma as part of the budget package.
Beer would face the sharpest increase. The special duty could rise from €1.5 to €5 per liter, while alcohol and tobacco excise taxes are due to be indexed by 6.5% in 2027. Imported beer is also subject to value-added tax, importer expenses and retail margins, meaning the customs increase would be amplified along the supply chain. The government document cited by Fontanka did not provide an estimate of the additional budget revenue.
Russia introduced a special tariff of €0.1 per liter on malt beer from unfriendly countries in April 2024. It raised the rate to €1 at the end of that year and to €1.5 in September 2025. The current rate has been extended through the end of 2027. A move to €5 would take the levy to more than three times its present level and 50 times the initial rate.
Direct imports have contracted
UN data cited by Fontanka show that Russia imported 357,900 tonnes of beer worth $276.8 million in 2019. Germany supplied 132,100 tonnes, followed by Belarus with 50,800 tonnes and the Czech Republic with 39,200 tonnes. By 2024, total imports had declined almost 15% to 305,000 tonnes, although their value increased 7% to $296.2 million. Germany remained the largest supplier at 121,800 tonnes, ahead of the Czech Republic at 39,500 tonnes and China at 33,900 tonnes.
The decline accelerated in 2025, when Russian beer imports more than halved to 126,300 tonnes, worth $145.7 million. China became the leading supplier with 46,600 tonnes. Kazakhstan shipped almost 16,000 tonnes and the Czech Republic 15,900 tonnes, while German deliveries fell tenfold to 12,100 tonnes. Lithuania and Latvia supplied 6,760 and 6,730 tonnes respectively.
Regional trade routes gain importance
At the same time, EU beer exports to several of Russia’s post-2022 trading partners increased sharply. Eurostat data cited by Fontanka show that EU shipments to Belarus rose almost sixfold in 2025, from €14.5 million to €84 million. Poland’s exports to Belarus climbed from €1.9 million to €28.4 million, Germany’s reached €16 million, and Latvia’s increased from €80,000 to €16.6 million. EU exports to Armenia rose from €3.5 million to €9.2 million, while shipments to Kyrgyzstan grew from €2.2 million to €7.8 million.
These flows cannot automatically be classified as re-exports to Russia, but they illustrate how higher direct tariffs may increase the commercial importance of regional intermediaries. Imported beer from unfriendly countries accounts for only about 4–5% of Russia’s roughly 8 billion-liter annual beer and beer-drinks market, according to Maxim Chernigovsky, head of the Club of Alcohol Market Professionals. Such products already cost around 2.5–3 times more than Russian-made beer. A €5 duty would therefore concentrate the pressure on premium foreign brands, specialist importers and consumers, while offering domestic brewers additional protection in a segment that is small by volume but commercially visible.
