OREANDA-NEWS. Director General of Belarus’ OJSC Krinitsa brewery, Grigori Petkevich, does not rule out the prospects of conducting an IPO to follow the example of Minsk Sparkling Wine Plant.

Petkevich praised the IPO endeavour by Minsk Sparkling Wine Plant and said Krinitsa may go the same way if the open auction to sell the company’s 25% sake plus one share proved unsuccessful.

Krinitsa is Belarus’ largest brewery with an installed capacity of 24 million decalitres per year.

Krinitsa was founded in January 2001. OJSC Polotsk Beer and Nesvizh soft drinks plant were incorporated by OJSC Krinitsa and now operate as subsidiaries. The government holds an 84% stake in OJSC Krinitsa.

OJSC Krinitsa produced 2.951 million decaliters of beer in January-March 2013, down 5.5% on the year.

At the moment, the brewery is handicapped with a shortage of circulating assets. The return on sales stands at 6.5%. In that context the company cannot afford expensive credits for production development and needs to raise funds by alternative means.

OJSC Krinitsa has recently conducted a large-scale upgrade to convert the brewery into a perfect producer of beer from the technological point of view, Petkevich said.

The beer business is not growing in Belarus at the moment, partly because of the government’s policy on alcohol: the share of taxes in total proceeds has grown from 37% in 2012 to 42% in 2013. Petkevich calls this a correct tax policy, from the government’s point of view, although it puts the brake on business development.

OJSC Krinitsa is launching an Amosorb beer series available in PET bottles in May 2013, Petkevich informed. Amosorb is a barrier technology indeed to increase the shelf life of oxygen-sensitive food products in PET packaging.