Tag Archives: drinks

Carlsberg brewery restarts in Uzbekistan

APRIL 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Carlsberg’s Uzbek subsidiary in Tashkent, UzCarlsberg, re-started beer production after a year’s break, local media reported. The Uzbek authorities had accused the UzCarlsberg of dodging taxes of nearly $5m. Foreign investors in Uzbekistan have previously accused the authorities of harassment.

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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)

Georgian fizzy water returns to Russia

APRIL 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian fizzy water brand Borjomi will be back on sale in restaurants, bars and shops across Russia after the Russian health authorities lifted their seven year ban. Analysts had interpreted the ban as a political move by Russia. In December, Russian investment company Alpha Group bought a controlling stake in Borjomi.

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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)

Georgian wine to flow to Russia, again

MARCH 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Officially, at least, Russian health inspectors had to visit and pass 36 Georgian wine and four mineral water producers before allowing them to resume imports.

Unofficially, politics is behind the return of Georgian wine to Russia.

Allowing the companies into the Russian market effectively lifts a seven year ban on Georgian wines and, importantly, signals a major shift forward in Georgia-Russia relations.

Russian health inspectors imposed the ban in 2006 just as, apparently coincidentally, relations between the countries were disintegrating. Now, it’s a different scenario and over the last couple of years there were two important shifts that smoothed relations further.

After rounds of negotiations, Georgian officials agreed to lift their block on Russia joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Separately, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili surprisingly won a parliamentary election in October and is now Georgia’s PM.

Mr Ivanishvili is Georgia’s richest man, a fortune he made in Russia. He campaigned on a cautiously pro-Russia ticket.

Confirmation of the return of Georgian wine to Russia’s restaurants is due on March 25 but Georgia-Russia relations are clearly improving.

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(News report from Issue No. 126, published on March 8 2013)

Georgia sells Borjomi

JAN. 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Alfa Group, the investment company of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, is close to securing a deal to buy Borjomi, Georgia’s iconic brand of fizzy water, Media reported. The Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported that Alfa Group had agreed to buy a controlling stake in Borjomi for $300m.

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(News report from Issue No. 122, published on Feb. 1 2013)

Alfa Group to buy Georgia’s Borjomi

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(News report from Issue No. 122, published on Feb. 1 2013)

Coca-Cola invests in Tajikistan’s economy

NOV. 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a boost to Tajikistan’s economy, its government said that a subsidiary of Coca-Cola planned to build a $30m bottling plant in the country, AP news agency reported. AP’s report said that Coca-Cola Icecek was potentially prepared to double its investment within a decade.

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(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)

Uzbekistan accuses Carlsberg of financial crimes

OCT. 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – An appeal court in Uzbekistan upheld accusations from the financial police of tax evasion by UzCarlsberg, the Uzbek subsidiary of Danish brewer Carlsberg, local media reported. Production at UzCarlsberg, which employs 400 people, has ceased since mid-June. Western businesses have previously complained that the Uzbek authorities pressure successful businesses through tax claims.

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(News report from Issue No. 109, published on Oct. 19 2012)