alcohol sales

After en forcement of full ban on alcohol advertisement in Lithuania starting next year, producers intend to search for new ways of presenting their production to consumers, while local media, which generates a large share of income from such advertisement, has reconciled with the loss.

Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė has signed the amendments to the Alcohol Control Law, which were adopted by the parliament and triggered heated discussions in the society, thus imposing substantial restrictions on alcohol trade, consumption and advertisements as of 2018.

After Lithuania's parliament tightened alcohol trade, consumption and advertisement rules on Thursday, manufacturers have warned about emigration of the population amid disappointment in the administration's moves, adding that producers would have to halt investments and sack employees.

Following lengthy public discussions and parliamentary debates, the Seimas on Thursday significantly tightened regulation of alcohol sales, use and advertising, with some bans to take effect in early 2018 and others in early 2020.

The sale of drinks with an alcohol content of up to 7.5 percent during free public events will not be restricted, the Lithuanian parliament decided on Thursday.

Young people under the age of 20 will not be allowed to buy or drink alcoholic beverages in Lithuania starting next year.

Lithuania's 2016 per capita alcohol consumption figures released by the country's statistics office are lower than those published by the World Health Organization, but Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis says that this does not substantially change the situation.

A major hike in excise duties on alcoholic drinks that took effect in Lithuania in early March has not changed alcohol purchasing habits, a survey by Baltic Market Insights (Baltmi) has revealed.

The Lithuanian parliament is inclined to raise the minimum legal alcohol drinking age to 20 starting next year.

The opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats proposes that the parliament temporarily suspend debates on a controversial package aimed at sharply reducing access to alcohol until political groups in the Seimas reach consensus and muster enough votes to pass the legislation.

Ramūnas Karbauskis, the leader of the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, has called for the government to be put under the obligation to draft legal acts by mid-2018 that are necessary for establishing specialized alcohol stores.

Several hundred people gathered outside the parliament building in Vilnius on Tuesday to watch a show staged to protest against the ruling coalition's plans to restrict alcohol consumption at concerts and other mass events.

If Lithuania introduces a complete ban on alcohol advertising, it will hardly be able to enforce it on foreign-registered Internet sites, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Thursday.

The Lithuanian government on Wednesday threw its backing behind legislative proposals aimed at further restricting access to alcohol and banning alcohol advertising.

The Lithuanian government on Wednesday approved in principle proposals that call for further restricting the hours of sale of alcohol and banning alcohol advertising. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis says that the government managed to reach a compromise.