KYIV, Dec 6 – A 5% increase in the excise tax on alcoholic beverages from January 1, 2022, provided for by recent legislation adopted by Parliament, will not affect the price of alcohol in retail chains, since large retailers will most likely refuse to transfer raising prices from suppliers of alcoholic beverages to end consumers.

"I predict that this 5%, but in reality, at least 6% (since we still have a 20% value added tax (VAT) on the excise tax), will in no way be reflected in the price of goods on the store shelves. It is likely that large chains will simply refuse to accept price increases from suppliers of alcoholic beverages and, accordingly, alcohol producers who pay the excise tax in advance (acting as tax agents of end consumers) will not transfer this increase to the real taxpayer," Nemiroff CEO Yuriy Sorochynsky told Interfax -Ukraine on Monday.