The President is asked to limit the supply of wine from the European Union

Crimean winemakers proposed to Vladimir Putin to limit the supply of wines from Europe, which now accounts for 63% of Russian imports. In this way, Russia will not only respond to EU sanctions, but also give an impetus to its own winemaking, they believe. However, some Crimean producers fear that such a proposal will only worsen relations with Russian wine trading companies.

Photo: Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant / buy photo

The non-profit partnership Crimean Bureau of Grapes and Wine asked Vladimir Putin to limit the import of European wine to Russia. It includes 30 wine producers from Crimea (Koktebel, Inkerman International Group of Companies, Zolotaya Balka agrofirm, Magarach Institute of Grapes and Wine, etc.). The letter states that such “fair measures would allow Crimean winemakers to compensate for the negative consequences of EU sanctions, and Russian winemaking as a whole to receive an additional impetus for development.” In addition to the sectoral sanctions against Russia introduced on July 29, the EU last week included Crimean wine producers on the sanctions list - Massandra, the Novy Svet champagne plant, the Azov Distillery, and the Magarach agricultural firm. Chairman of the partnership and director of “New World” Yanina Pavlenko stressed yesterday that the organization does not insist on a complete ban on wines from Europe: “There can be many options.” For example, restrictive measures may consist of increasing import duties (currently the import duty on wine in Russia is 20% and in the future should be reduced to 12.5%. - Kommersant ).

According to Ms. Pavlenko, the letter to the Russian President was supported by two-thirds of the members of the Crimean Bureau of Grapes and Wine. In particular, Zolotaya Balka, Inkerman and Legend of Crimea were opposed, the latter’s general director Mikhail Shtyrlin told Kommersant. “It’s very unfortunate that such a letter came out, because the global wine community should adhere to fair competition and stay away from politics,” he says. According to Mr. Shtyrlin, the Crimean winemakers themselves lose practically nothing from the loss of the European market, and the letter can only worsen relations with Russian wine trading companies that work with products from different countries.

This is not the first time that Crimean winemakers have asked the Russian authorities for preferences. For example, in March, after a meeting with them, the governments of Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg invited retailers to allocate separate shelves for Crimean wine products, as well as organize promotional events - in particular, tastings. The winemakers themselves also expected that the chains would have a more flexible pricing policy for them in terms of paying for marketing campaigns. According to Mikhail Shtyrlin, in 2014 the volume of supplies of Crimean wine to the Russian market will increase by 20%. But this, he believes, will not compensate the peninsula’s winemakers for the loss of the Ukrainian market, as a result of which their sales will fall by 10-15%.

According to customs data, in 2013, imports of bottled wine to Russia amounted to 27.1 million decaliters, of which EU countries accounted for a total of approximately 63%. The largest importers are France - 5.5 million decaliters (20.2%), Italy - 4.3 million decaliters (15.9%) and Spain - 3.7 million decaliters (13.6%). According to Leonid Popovich, President of the Union of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia, imported products in general account for about 46% of the wine consumed in Russia: accordingly, European wine accounts for 29% of Russian wine consumption. Director of CIFRRA Vadim Drobiz notes that in terms of wine, Russia will be an import-dependent country for the next 20 years. “European imports cannot be fully replaced by either domestic wines or wines from the New World and other countries,” he believes. In Russia, according to Mr. Drobiz, wine consumption per capita remains one of the lowest in Europe - 4.3 liters per year. But in the coming years, the expert is sure, it will grow, which will only increase dependence on imports.

Oleg Trutnev

Crimea erases Europe from the wine map