Carlsberg Ukraine halts supply in east

Carlsberg Ukraine has stopped beer supplies to the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk amid growing unrest in the country, the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS was told on Tuesday.

In a statement released to the ITAR-TASS, the brewer said: “We have stopped supplying and selling beer in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in order not to put our employees at risk”, adding “the current situation in the east (of Ukraine) is unlikely to produce a positive impact on business of any kind.”

Carlsberg-Ukraine, part of the Carlsberg Group, holds a 27.9% share of the Ukrainian beer market, the second largest according to Nielsen, with its share in Ukraine’s market of rye beer, known as kvas, accounting for 28% of the country’s total market by volume.

Carlsberg Ukraine’s net income stood at 621 million hryvnias in 2013 while its profit was estimated at 3.47 billion hryvnias.

The brewer, which operates two plants in Ukraine with brands including Lvivske, Baltika, Carlsberg, Tuborg and Arsenal, said it hoped to resume supplies to the region as soon as possible.