Producers play down zivania price rise

ZIVANIA producers yesterday denied that prices of the spirit would double on the island’s EU accession next month.

According to a statement from the EU, zivania prices are set to rise by 60-70 per cent after EU accession, due to a readjustment in the duty on spirits.

Cyprus had requested an exemption from the duty on spirits and instead wanted to implement a consumer tax. However, it was eventually agreed that zivania must be taxed on the same level as other spirits.

“Cyprus asked the EU to exempt excise duties on zivania, but the Cypriot government has now accepted that the famous firewater will have to be taxed like any other drink with a high percentage of alcohol,” the statement read.

But an ETKO spokesman told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the price of zivania would only increase by 60 cents per litre.

“They are wrong [that the price] will increase by 70 cents a litre of pure alcohol,” he said.
“Only 45 per cent is alcohol in zivania, and the rest is water, so according to the quantity, alcohol will go up by 70 cents on pure alcohol,” he added.

“It’s almost the same increase we had in the past, so we will have an increase of 60 cents per litre bottle, 45 cents on the medium bottle and a 20 cent increase on the smaller bottle.”

But the spokesman said that producers would not profit from the increase in the price.
“The increase is logical because we are forced to follow EU directives, the price increase does not create a profit for us.

“When we produce alcoholic drinks, the government has a customs officer in the factory who monitors the amount of alcohol you produce and taxes the factory,” he added.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.