25 July 2001
More than 20 percent of Brest's enterprises operate at loss
The city government at a recent conference noted that 20.1 percent of Brest's 531 enterprises were operating at a loss, and 83 percent of the losers were non-state companies. About 27 percent of those operating at
a loss were industrial enterprises including big ones such as the Electric Bulb Factory, the Brest Electric Equipment Factory and the Household Chemicals Factory.
The average profitability of the local enterprises is quite low - 13.4 percent, while finished product inventories are the rise. Stockpiles of unsold goods at some factories exceed their monthly output several-fold.
Officials urged the Brest Non-Alcoholic Beverage Plant to achieve the targets for beer and fortified fruit wine production by the end of the year. Beer production in the first six months fell 16.9 percent and the output of
fortified and low-alcohol wines 71.6 percent short of expectations. As a result, the city budget fell short of 30 million rubels in revenues from excise duties. Revenues from the income tax, the value-added tax and the profit tax were also lower than expected.
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