The Verkhovna Rada has adopted the draft law on amendments to some laws of Ukraine on the regulation of beer production and turnover which reduces the cost of a license for beer wholesale for micro-breweries from UAH 500,000 to UAH 30,000.

All in all, 230 deputies voted for bill No. 2071-d. The bill will now be discussed in committees for second reading.

"I, having consulted with the members of the committee on taxation and customs policy, propose the following addition to bill No. 2971: to set the annual fee for a beer wholesale license for small beer producers, whose volume of own production and sales does not exceed 3,000 hectoliters per year, at UAH 30,000," the author of the bill, Petro Poroshenko nBloc MP Nina Yuzhanina, said at a parliament meeting.

According to her, draft law No. 2071-d kept the questions on the deregulation of the beer industry from government bill No. 2971. In particular, it foresaw the abolition of certification and conformity assessment of products and government regulation of minimum wholesale and retail prices.

The bill does not provide for excluding beer from the list of alcoholic drinks.

Bill No. 2071-d takes into account changes on beer advertising regulations as proposed by deputies in bill No. 2971-1.