In July, the cheapest vodka will rise in price to 130 rubles and over the next year and a half the number of vodka brands will be reduced by 3 times

Vodka producers are urgently reducing the number of brands, leaving only the most popular ones. What is this connected with? This year, for the first time, the excise tax on alcohol will be raised in two stages.

Since January, in order not to frighten the population before the elections, the excise tax on alcohol with an alcohol content above 9%, with the exception of natural wines, was raised by 23 rubles, to 254 rubles in terms of per liter of pure alcohol (this is just over 50 rubles in the price of a half-liter bottle vodka). From July 1, the excise tax will rise to 300 rubles, the cheapest vodka on the store shelf will rise in price to 130 rubles. The Ministry of Finance explains the increase in excise taxes in two stages with the desire to make price increases smooth. Manufacturers are already reducing the number of brands, leaving the expensive ones. This is how buyers are accustomed to high prices. It is more logical to leave premium brands alive after excise tax increases: the cost of cheap and expensive vodka does not differ much. According to experts, 2000–2500 brands of vodka are currently produced in Russia, of which several hundred are in the premium segment. “By the beginning of 2013, there will be no more than 700 brands left,” says Vadim Drobiz, head of the Center for Research of Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets.

Vodka companies are confirming this trend. The owner of the Kaluga plant "Crystal" Sergei Zivenko plans to produce only one brand in each price segment: "Gzhelka" (economy), "Russian Gold" (middle segment), "White Gold" (premium). “I’m discontinuing the rest and selling off the rest,” says Zivenko.

Tax per degree: why there will be fewer brands of vodka on the shelves