Increase in alcohol prices will provoke an increase in the share of counterfeit products - expert

The return of state price regulation and the establishment of a minimum price for alcoholic beverages will make the production of surrogate alcohol more attractive.

This opinion was expressed by Viktor Medvid, director of the William invest expert consulting company, in a commentary to GolosUA.

"The higher the prices, the higher the incentive to counterfeit. The lower the prices, the less sense it makes to counterfeit products, because there is no economic profitability for small batches," the expert said.

According to him, the cost of packaging production depends on the volume - the smaller the batch, the higher the cost, so a large manufacturer will always have a higher cost of production than counterfeiters.

At the same time, as Mr. Medvid explained, a legal manufacturer is burdened with taxes and fees, and the higher the tax burden, the more attractive it is to produce counterfeit goods.

"Almost everything in our country is fake now, from electric cables to milk," the expert added, adding that the State Consumer Protection Service should be the only one to deal with product quality.

As a reminder, the Cabinet of Ministers is bringing back price regulation for alcoholic beverages by setting minimum prices. This decision was motivated by the growth of counterfeiting and numerous cases of poisoning with surrogate.