Despite excise reductions microbrewery profits produced little foam in 2000

Reduction of excise tax on beer last year did not have significant influence on the financial condition of minor breweries, either because it was too little, too late, or both. Mini-brewers' profits fell by 50% in 2000, resulting in suspension of planned investments. From the first of this year, breweries producing up to 200,000 hectoliters of beer pay zl.6 less tax per hectoliter than larger manufacturers. Breweries producing less than 20,000 hectoliters benefit from a zl.11 reduction per hectoliter. According to Andrzej Olkowski, president of Polish Microbreweries' Association (SMP), the excise tax for small breweries should be 50% of the variable tax on large-scale producers, instead of a fixed amount. This year SMP seeks to introduce unified bottle design for small beer producers and special crates with the SMP logo. The organization, which is shortly to change its name to Association of Small and Middle-sized Polish Breweries, consists of about 30 beer producers, whose combined production is estimated at 1.2 million-15 million hectoliters of beer. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) A.D