Estonian alcohol and tobacco gets new boost from Finns

2009-06-01
TBT Staff

Estonian and Finnish brands of alcohol remain the topsellers.

TALLINN- In a time of crisis, many items such as cigarettes and alcoholare becoming more of a luxury item. However, as the Finnish governmentincreases taxes on these goods, more and more tourists are ferrying over from Tallinn to stock upeven more than before.

According to the Finnish customs department, the quantity ofalcohol imported to Finlandby Finnish tourists has gone up 8 percent since 2008, and the quantity of cigaretteshas increased 16 percent at the end of April 2009.

In terms of absolute alcohol, Finnish tourists have imported approximately2 million liters of pure alcohol into Finland in 2008.

Of all alcohol that Finnish tourists import to Finland, two thirds are bought from Estonia or fromthe passenger ferries. In addition to the land-based sales of Estonian alcohol,internet sale of alcohol has become more popular amongst the Finns.

The government of Finland is also rumored to beraising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol again later this year, which may leadto fresh waves of alcohol cart wielding tourists.