OREANDA-NEWS. On 18 March 2009 was announced, that in the beginning of March, the first shipment of Baltika beer was dispatched to Lebanon by sea from St. Petersburg. Already at the end of this month, 24,000 litres of Baltika №7 Export beer will arrive in the country’s capital, Beirut. Baltika will become the first and only beer from Russia on sale in Lebanon.

The importer of products from the Russian beer brewer into Lebanon is the company NOHA S.A.L. Baltika beer will be positioned in the premium segment and the retail price of a 0.5-litre aluminium can amounts, on average, to 1653 Lebanese pounds or about USD 1.10.

Baltika beer will be on sale in stores around the country’s capital city, Beirut, and in the resort zone of Junia. The main consumers of Russian beer will be local residents, as well as the many tourists from around the world.

The population of Lebanon is circa 4 million people. The Republic is unusual in the Arab world for its religious diversity. For a long time Lebanon was the financial and banking capital of the Arab world, and for that reason it got the unofficial name of the ‘Switzerland of the Near East.’ Lebanon also enjoys popularity among tourists. The start of shipments to Lebanon is a natural stage in the geographic expansion of export sales of Baltika beer in the Near East. The volume of the Lebanese beer market amounts to around 1.8 million dal, and beer consumption is 5 litres per capita.

The volume of Baltika Breweries’ export sales grew by 11.6% in 2008 compared with the preceding year and amounted to 2.2 million hectolitres. Taking into account licensed beer sales, the growth of sales abroad came to 16.8%.