Kyiv-based Obolon brewery plans in 2010 to regain leading positions on the Ukrainian beer market lost in 2009.
"In 2009, the Obolon’s share of beer production was 32.2%, and for the first time Obolon lost the top position, which the company firmly intends to regain this year," the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
Last year the company cut beer production by 14.8% compared to 2008, to 96.6 million decaliters.
"In 2009, Obolon, as other beer market players, suffered from the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis and short-sighted policy in the legal regulation of the area," the press service said.
The company said that last year was one of the most difficult years for the beer sector. Apart from a rise in excise duties on beer, the market was affected by a fall in consumers’ buying power.
Obolon said that preconditions for its return to the leading position in 2010 were registered in November-December 2009, when the company’s share was 37.2%, which is 5.5 percentage notches more than its main rival (Sun Inbev Ukraine).
"The Obolon Corporation has every chance of retaining the upward trend seen in the previous months. In December 2009 the company was the leader on the Ukrainian beer market, and we took the lead over our key rival by 4.6%," the press service said, citing the company’s president Oleksandr Slobodian.
Obolon brewery was created in 1980. In 1992 it was privatized and reorganized as a closed joint-stock company. The enterprise’s management owns a controlling stake in the company.
