ukrspirt.com
The government authorized exports from May 15 instead of June 1.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has early lifted the ban on exports of ethyl alcohol used for medical purposes, allowing supplies from May 15, 2020, instead of June 1, the deadline set previously.
The relevant resolution was passed at a government meeting on May 13.
"It is proposed that validity period of licensing for ethyl alcohol exports […] required for medical purposes and the pharmaceutical industry be changed, for a period to May 5, 2020, that is, the temporary ban on ethyl alcohol exports be lifted earlier than the deadline set by government," the explanatory note to the resolution said.
According to the document, annual production capacities of Ukrainian distilleries are estimated at about 600 million liters of alcohol, including the state-run Ukrspyrt's capacities at 300 million liters. At the same time, the annual demand for ethyl alcohol on the domestic market in recent years has not exceeded 70-80 million liters, while the state-owned distilleries' workload remains under 13%.
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The State Statistics Service says the country's alcohol exports in 2019 totaled 9.3 million liters, including 5.9 million liters exported by Ukrspyrt. Over the two months of 2020, overseas shipments of ethyl alcohol amounted to 1.1 million liters, all exported by Ukrspyrt.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers on March 23 decided to ban ethyl alcohol exports until June 1.
Ukrspyrt produced and supplied 4 million liters of raw material to Ukrainian sanitizer manufactures on April 2-30. This was made possible thanks to the draft law passed by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on additional economic guarantees amid the spread of coronavirus. The document allowed the manufacture of sanitizers at Ukrspyrt's distilleries until April 30.
UNIAN memo. State-owned Ukrspyrt, which was set up on the basis of a consortium with the same name in 2010, holds a monopoly on alcohol production in Ukraine.
The government has already launched its privatization, which is expected to be completed by July 1, 2021. As many as 41 distilleries that are part of the enterprise are to be put up for sale.