vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #152 / Business / Reading article...

Government officials wants beer producers to bring home the 30 billion rubles ($5 million) annually that goes to purchasing barley and malt in the United States.

According to the state bread inspection, barley stores in the krai are high enough to support such a shift, Food and Processing Industry Committee Chairman Vladimir Zorin said recently.

Beer producers and farm officials met Oct. 7 with the committee to discuss the possibility, which would reduce raw material costs. A Gregoryevsky Farm director said that at full capacity, his farm could raise up to 500 tons of barley next year, and sell it at around 1.5 million rubles ($250) per ton, cheaper than prices in the United States.

He suggested that beer producers give money advances so that farms can buy fuel for machines necessary in the barley planting and growing process.

Vladimir Havov, a representative from Piva Industries Primorye, said his primary concern was the unstable climate in the krai. Periodic typhoons, floods and even the odd tornado make farming here risky, and beer makers may want their money invested in American barley and malt, he said.

Vladimir Zorin, head of the committee and staunch krai supporter, countered that the money saved in buying quality Primorye malt and barley could go toward purchasing better labels and bottles abroad. The move would make local beer more attractive to krai denizens, he said.

The beer industry has has enlarged its niche in the local market and now presents sucessful competition to foreign-made beers, Zorin said.

"Plus, they give the krai tens of billions of rubles in taxes," he said.