We joined our efforts with other beer market players in a bid to fight for responsible beer drinking, for we are certain that the main challenges in this area can only be solved through active and effective cooperation between all stakeholders — manufacturers, retailers and consumers. For two years on end, we have been participating in the social campaign of the Global Beer Responsibility Day intended to draw the social attention to the problem of selling beer to minors and underage drinking. The campaign is carried out at the initiative of the industrial association Ukrpivo. On this day, hundreds of employees of the participating companies working in beer industry visited  ≈80,000 points of sale to remind about the fact that selling beer to underage persons is prohibited.

Together with AB InBev Efes, we launched a digital project - Check List for Parents #be_responsible. For this purpose, we invited leading Ukrainian psychologists. Experts prepared a series of video recommendations that will help parents in finding an approach to their children. Not prohibiting or lecturing, but looking for reasons - that's an effective way to prevent underage from drinking alcohol.

Psychologists believe that most frequently children are pushed to drink due to lack of trust between them and parents and because of difficulties in communication. Therefore, the checklist provides practical steps that will help in building relationships with teenagers based on respect, love and trust.

Video answers to the questions:

- how to communicate with teenagers so that they will not just listen, but can hear their parents;

- what are the actions of adults that provoke children to drink;

- what should be done, if a child has an odor of alcohol in his/her breath;

- when and how to effectively talk to children about alcohol;

- how to build such relations so that a teenager will not have any interest in alcohol.

Yevhehiia Piddubna, Senior Director Corporate Relations, Carlsberg Ukraine, commented:

“As one of the leaders of the Ukrainian beer market, Carlsberg Ukraine cannot stand aside the problem of alcohol consumption by minors. We understand that this problem exists in the community, therefore, we support the effort and other public initiatives that promote the idea of responsibility of adults - producers, retailers, parents and just people around us - to protect children from alcohol, and resonate it with one of the strategic goals of the company - ZERO irresponsible drinking”.

#i_will_not_stay_aside

In 2017, along with our colleagues from AB InBev Ukraine, we visited more than 500 beer sales outlets in three Ukrainian cities. The volunteers from our staff checked how the basic principles of Memorandum of Responsible Consumption are followed. They also reminded buyers and sellers that alcohol can only be sold to people having reached the age of 18.

In order to take the discussion of the problem to a higher level, we, together with AB InBev Ukraine, initiated a social flash mob #i_will_not_stay_aside. For taking part, it was necessary to add to the avatar on Facebook a unique frame with a logo, share one of the promotional posters and add the hashtag #i_will_not_stay_aside. Everyone interested could tell about their attitude to drinking alcoholic beverages by the minors, to propose methods for solving the problem, and to tell about specific situations connected with violation of the ban on the sale of alcohol to minors and their reaction thereto.

Yevhen Shevchenko, CEO, Carlsberg Ukraine, noted:

“By this effort we also want to emphasize the importance of combining energies to address the pressing problems of the society. I am strongly convinced that big business cannot stay away from the social problems of the country in which it operates. Therefore, when it became necessary to raise public awareness of illegal sale of alcohol to the minors, competing businesses signed the Memorandum on Cooperation to work together for the health of rising generation. This is an important step for our company as well as for other market participants who are not indifferent to the future of Ukraine”.