The development of brewing in Russia was discussed at the Baltika Fest festival

At a meeting held within the framework of the Baltika Fest festival, they discussed how Russia is going to raise the brewing industry to a new height, making it independent of foreign supplies. This was reported on September 13 by a correspondent of Izvestia.

The Baltika Fest gathered thousands of guests and brewers on one site, which made it the answer to Oktoberfest. The concept of the holiday is a taste that unites. From Kamchatka to Kaliningrad, from the Caucasus to the Russian North.

Guests could also embark on a real gastronomic journey at the Igora Drive autodrome. This variety of food unites not only foam lovers, but also Russian producers.

"The expert council on the development of the industry is meeting right on the site. This is an important meeting for joining forces," said correspondent Alexey Poltoranin.

The Council for the development of the beer and non-alcoholic industry appeared this year. It was headed by Taimuraz Bolloev, President of Baltika.

"We looked at how the industry is regulated in general and found that the disunity within the industry is so great that not a single center makes a decision, but more than a dozen associations, unions," he stressed at the meeting.

According to him, a similar situation was at the Baltika enterprise itself. For a long time, the company was run by foreigners, when there were Danes, the production of domestic beers at the enterprise decreased by half. European owners developed only their brands, made a profit, but did not invest in production.

"It turned out that during the 15 years when the foreign owners were involved in the company, there was no success, but stagnation in the company itself and the events that took place around it," Bolloev said.

Now the plant is under the control of the Russian business. The company has its own hoppers and malt houses, as well as eight other factories, from the Far East to the north-west of Russia.

During the festival, the Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, emphasized that the work of engineers, workers, technologists, and the company's management made Baltika an advanced enterprise in its industry not only in Russia, but also in the world.

Now Baltika, together with its partners, is raising the domestic brewing industry to a new level. Malt harvests are breaking records, and new hectares of hops are emerging. Russia is one of the top 5 largest countries in terms of beer production. Last year, Russian companies brewed more than 9 billion liters.

"Last year, in 2024, the market grew at a record pace, meaning it showed an increase of 10.3%. This is an unprecedented figure. This year, growth has slowed down, in the first seven months of this year we see growth of only 1.8%, that is, there has been a significant slowdown in market growth," said General Director of AB InBev Efes JSC (Drinks Together) Nikolai Tyurnikov.

It is noted that the brewing industry of the Russian Federation now faces an important task — to make domestic brewers completely independent of foreign supplies. The same former foreign owners of Baltika imported hops by the ton from Germany, the Czech Republic and the USA. By 2030, Russian factories will provide themselves with half of this crop. The shortage of aluminum cans, which will be produced in Voronezh and Ulyanovsk, will also be closed.

"The shortage of aluminum cans is a problem that has hindered the development of Russian brewers and beverage manufacturers for many years. At the moment, this problem will be completely solved," said Alexey Sagal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arnest JSC.

It is also reported that the products of foreign manufacturers are losing interest among buyers, the day before the government increased duties for unfriendly countries. This will spur domestic companies to create new non-alcoholic flavors and revive old ones.

"These are our products, the quality is very good, our water, our barley. But the most important thing is that we see that such festivals also promote tourism. The Leningrad Region is becoming more and more interesting for tourists every year," added Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of the Leningrad Region.

By leaps and bounds: the authorities are ready to support the development of the brewing industry

Domestic producers should not depend on imported raw materials — prospects will be discussed at the Baltika Fest food festival

Vyacheslav Mamontov, Executive Director of the Association of Beer, Malt and Beverage Producers, said on July 2 that Russian producers had taken leading positions in the world ranking, which, in turn, indicates the high importance of brewing companies in the country. This fact was influenced, among other things, by the nationalization of Baltika (formerly Carlsberg) and OPH Vereinigte Brauereien (formerly Heineken) companies in Russia. For example, the Russian "Baltika" took the 12th place.

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