Beer in Brief: Żywiec; Carlsberg Okocim; kompania Piwowarksa; Brau Union; Market trends

GRUPA ŻYWIEC met its plans to increase sales by 3-5% in the first quarter, despite the slump in the beer sector. Last year the company sold 8.4 million hectoliters of beer, 10% more than in 2001 (www.onet.pl) ... CARLSBERG OKOCIM sales fell by 3% in Q1. However, it is expecting to increase its sales by 10% for the whole year (www.onet.pl) ... KOMPANIA PIWOWARSKA closed Q1 with sales going up by 2% to 1.5 million hectoliters. (www.onet.pl) ... Austrian BRAU UNION (BU) hopes to increase its market share to 5.4% by the end of the year. In Q1 2003 BU's sales were down 1% on Q1 2002. (www.onet.pl) ... Small and medium breweries sold 245,000 hectoliters of beer in Q1, 10% less than in the same period of 2002. Beer producers claim the market is still suffering from high excise duty and the 30% excise reduction on strong alcohol, resulting in higher vodka sales at the cost of beer revenues. According to sector players, total beer sales fell by 3% in the first quarter. (Parkiet, p. 3; www.onet.pl) J.K.