Bulgaria: Top quality domestic beer at low prices

The quality of beer produced in Bulgaria meets the highest European standards, while being traded at double lower prices than in the EU, Darik News reported on January 17.

The country's Union of Brewers announced Wednesday the 2006 beer output reached 5.220 million hectolitres.

The warm weather in the autumn and winter months has added to the sustainable growth in consumption figures, the brewers said, ranking Bulgarians next to Italians, Frenchmen, Swedes and Norwegians in beer booze.

Meanwhile, the price of beer in the newest EU member keeps at double cheaper rates than in the rest of the union due to the local economic affordability.

The EU accession of Bulgaria, when customs barriers were scrapped, did not influence the local beer market because only 1% of beer consumed in Bulgaria in 2006 was imported, Vladimir Ivanov from the Brewers' Union said.