A ban on selling alcohol in small bottles, so-called małpki, is being worked on in the Sejm, but there is no voting date yet. According to „Rzeczpospolita”, prices may rise as early as 2027, and the ban itself will be processed at the earliest toward the end of the term.
The Sejm’s Health Committee is working on restricting sales of small bottles. Its proposals are to be presented at the turn of 2026 and 2027. As reported by „Rzeczpospolita”, Poles buy over 40 million small bottles a month, and every fifth one before noon. According to the newspaper, the market for small packages is worth nearly PLN 6 billion a year.
Why the ban is not in the passed law
Originally, the ban was to be included in an amendment to the Act on Sobriety Promotion and Counteracting Alcoholism, which the Sejm passed in October. The law introduces, among other things, night-time prohibition and a ban on beer advertising, as we wrote in our article about the end of the „6+6” alcohol promotion. According to „Rzeczpospolita”, the provision on small bottles was moved to a separate bill because it requires lengthy notification to the European Commission, which would delay the whole law.
Joanna Wicha, a New Left MP who piloted work on the passed law, told the newspaper that proposals on small bottles will go into a new committee bill, together with amendments submitted in subcommittees. According to the daily’s findings, because of notification the ban may be processed in the Sejm at the earliest toward the end of the term. Parliamentary elections will take place in autumn 2027.
PiS bill: not only shots
In parallel, PiS submitted its own bill. On Friday, 9 October, club leader Mariusz Błaszczak wrote on X that the ban would cover drinks with an alcohol content above 12% in packages smaller than 500 ml. According to the text cited by the media, a new Article 14 would prohibit placing such drinks on the market or selling them. Błaszczak argued that a small package means a low price, and that the spirit is easy to buy, hide and drink quickly. As Bezprawnik notes, such a provision would cover not only classic „shots” but also 200 and 250 ml bottles, and even small packages of stronger wines or liqueurs.
MPs from KO, the Left and Poland 2050 declared support for restricting small bottles in the Health Committee. Confederation moved a motion to reject the earlier anti-alcohol bill in its entirety.
Price hikes will come sooner than the ban
Regardless of the ban, excise duty on alcohol is set to rise from 1 January 2027. The rate for ethyl alcohol is to increase from PLN 8,811 to PLN 10,109 per hectolitre of 100% alcohol, as reported by the portal Faktykaliskie.info. According to „Rzeczpospolita”, a fourfold increase in the fee on alcohol in small packages is also planned, from PLN 1 to PLN 4. The revenue is to fund the National Health Fund (NFZ). The Ministry of Finance previously estimated that the fee on small bottles alone would bring the fund nearly PLN 300 million in 2027 (via Bezprawnik).
The newspaper calculates that small bottles could become more than 40% more expensive. Faktykaliskie.info gives the example of a „shot” that could rise from just under PLN 9.50 to almost PLN 14. These are estimates, not prices set in regulations.
What it means
For shoppers, the realistic change in the near future is a higher price for small bottles from January 2027, not their disappearance from shelves. The ban, if it is passed at all, requires notification in Brussels first and passage through the Sejm, so it will not take effect in early 2027. Retailers and producers, meanwhile, face night-time prohibition and the beer advertising ban from 1 January under the passed law, which as of publication still requires completion of the process in the Senate and the president’s signature. As of publication, we did not know the committee’s work schedule or the print number of the new committee bill.
