BG top 5 brewers sold a combined 4.84 million hectolitres of beer in 2011

Bulgaria`s top five brewers sold a combined 4.84 million hectolitres of beer last year, nearly unchanged from the 4.815 million hectolitres sold in 2010, the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria (UBB) said. UBB data covers the Business of Kamenitza, owned by StarBev, Carlsberg Bulgaria, part of Danish brewer Carlsberg, Zagorka, part of Dutch group Heineken, as well as locally-owned brewersBoliarka VT and Lomsko Pivo. The five brewers account for over 85% of the domestic market. Beer sales were stable versus the year before but it is important to note that the market is down 10% versus its record year, 2008, UBB chairman Ruud van den Eijnden told a news conference in Sofia, adding that the industry remains heavily affected by the global economic crisis. UBB data puts beer consumption in the country of 7.3 million at 67 litres per capita.