Retailer: License fee would increase alcohol prices for customers

Retailers have said plans to introduce a new fee for alcohol licenses would push up prices for consumers and may reduce the number of stores selling beer, wine and spirits.
In Estonia, 10,000 alcohol sales licences have been issued, and their number has increased in recent years. Some licences have been obtained just in case.
Ninety per cent of Estonia's residents can reach a liquor store within 10 minutes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended using paid sales licences to reduce the number of sales outlets, and this is now what the Ministry of Social Affairs is considering.
Leesi village shop in Juminda sells everyday items, and alcoholic beverages account for up to 30 percent of sales. If the new alcohol licence laws are passed, the store managers will need to pay the fee.
The cooperative, founded by local residents to operate the village shop, already sells goods at a slightly higher price than at larger retail chains.
Ants Viirmaa, member of the management board of the Leesi cooperative, said little will change if the fee is "symbolic."
"But every tax is always ultimately reflected in the final price. If it becomes very high, it will certainly have an impact. It will be added to the price of the bottle, and the danger here is that if the price of the bottle becomes too high, then alcohol will simply, figuratively speaking, move from the shop to behind the shop," he said.
For the Rikets flower shop chain, alcohol is an insignificant side business. If a customer wants to add a bottle of wine to a bouquet ordered from the online shop, then they can. But if the alcohol sales licence becomes commercially unprofitable, the chain will also give it up.
"It depends on what is decided, for what amount, and how much bureaucracy comes with it. If it is very complicated and expensive, then there is no point in my doing it," said Rikets Flowers CEO Getriin Hermlin.
"I don't think it would affect us financially very much, but there will certainly be certain customers who choose somewhere else. Whether it is Selver, where they can pick up that bouquet of tulips and a bottle of champagne at the same time. The power then goes into the hands of the large retail chains," she added.
By the end of the year, an analysis will be completed on what kind of sales licence system would be suitable for Estonia.
"For example, there is a system where, if an establishment wants to open a shop in an area where there are already shops selling alcohol, then, for example, it is more expensive. That is because the density is already so high, and there are systems where certain conditions have to be met in order to obtain one at all," said Kristiin Mikko, adviser at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
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Editor: Helen Wright, Valner Väino
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera










