Alcohol, Estonia, Latvia, Markets and Companies

"While in 2016, half a mln liters of beer and cider was sold to Latvia, then this year we are forecasting the volume of border trade to be 35 mln liters," Harms told.

According to Harms, the border trade of alcoholic beverages on the southern border is still increasing, while a decrease can be seen on the northern border. At that, the share of Latvian border trade makes up 35% of domestic consumption for beer and 30% for strong alcohol.

Within Estonia, the sale of beer and cider has decreased 18% and the sale of strong alcohol is down 23%.

Sales on the northern border have dropped 1.5-fold to three times, depending on the product group. "Due to the excise duty policy, Finnish tourists onboard ships, at port stores and in hotels have been lost and this is a significant blow to the beverage industry," Harms said, adding that along with excise duty and VAT, Estonia loses 100 mln euros per year.

Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare published statistics, according to which the amount of alcohol bought by Finnish tourists from abroad has decreased by a fifth over the last year.