OREANDA-NEWS. December 24, 2010. Sales of alcoholic beverages in Belarus increased year-on-year in January-October 2010, and sales of cigarettes increased, too, according to official statistics.

Sales of alcohol and beer in January-October 2010 reached 4.968 trillion Belarusian rubles (Br), 12% of the total retail turnover.

Sales of hard drinks reached 8.468 million decaliters, up 5.5% year-on-year.

Sales of beer increased 22.7% year-on-year in January-October to 28.753 million decaliters.

Sales of cigarettes rose 8.8% on the year in January-October 2010 to 18.9 billion units.

Alcohol prices increased 10.6% in January-October 2010 on the year; prices rose 11.8% in October 2010 on the year and 0.5% from September 2010.

Cigarette prices increased 5.1% on the year in January-October 2010. Cigarette prices rose 2.7% on the year in October 2010 and remained flat from September 2010.