Croatia’s Customs Administration has announced the sale of a whopping 2,240 liters of fruit rakija that was confiscated due to illegal production. The starting price? Just one euro per liter! But hold your horses — you can’t just buy it and sell it as is. The buyer must re-distill the rakija and use their own packaging. Yes, you read that right.
The sale kicks off on Monday at 10 AM, when interested parties can submit written offers. The highest bidder must return the plastic containers within five days or immediately transfer the rakija into their own bottles. The rakija’s alcohol content ranges from 37% to 45%, and the price does not include VAT because the excise tax has already been paid.
Only legal entities, craftsmen, and registered producers can participate, and they can only use this quantity as raw material for producing new excise alcoholic beverages.
Why does this matter? Because it shines a spotlight on the ongoing problem of illegal alcohol production in the region, where products are often made without quality control or tax payments. While events like the one in Čačak celebrate the best šljivovica samples, here we have a huge batch of confiscated rakija being sold under strict conditions.
Imagine this — rakija that’s three times cheaper than famous brands, but with massive restrictions. Will anyone actually buy it and reprocess it? Or will it just become another headache for the system?
If you have thoughts on this bizarre sale or know someone brave enough to buy this rakija, feel free to drop a comment. Maybe this is the start of a new industry of “legalizing” illegal rakija, or just another customs trick to clear old stock. Either way, this story will make you laugh, get mad, and think twice about what’s really going on behind the scenes of the alcohol we drink.
