Russia: Vena, Yarpivo, Pikra breweries apply for removal from tax register as part of merger

The Vena, Yarpivo and Pikra breweries sent a letter to the tax authorities on Friday, asking that they be stricken from the country's tax register as separate legal entities due to their impending merger with Baltika Breweries, the companies said in a statement, according to Interfax, December 22.

"The conversion of these companies' shares into Baltika shares will take place immediately after Vena, Pikra and Yarpivo are excluded from the register of legal entities," Baltika's press service told Interfax. Baltika President Anton Artemiev said in mid-December that "the legal aspect of the merger and the switch to a single share will be completed in the last days of December."

Baltika, which was founded in 1990, is Russia's largest beer producer. The company has breweries in St. Petersburg, Tula, Rostov, Samara and Khabarovsk.

Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH) owns over 80% of Baltika.