Wine (Russian market)

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Winemaking in Russia

Main article: Russian wine

Wine market

2024: Wine sales rise 3.2% to 81.9 million decalitres

Rosalkogoltabakkontrol (RATK) recorded an increase in sales of sparkling wines in Russia to 23.5 million decaliters in 2024, which is 8.6% higher than in 2023. This became known on January 23, 2025.

According to RBC, the total sales of wine, including grape, sparkling and liqueur wines, reached 81.9 million decaliters, an increase of 3.2% compared to 2023. Liquor wines showed an increase of 7.6%, reaching 1.2 million decaliters.

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Фото: Freepik

Vice-President of the Association of Retail Market Experts Alexander Stavtsev noted that wine sales in 2024 exceeded market expectations, despite an increase in the excise rate in May and an increase in customs duty in August.

The growth in sales of alcoholic beverages affected not only the wine segment. The volume of vodka sales increased by 0.6% to 76 million decaliters, cognac - by 2.1% to 14.1 million decaliters. The category of other alcoholic beverages, including gin, rum, whiskey and tequila, showed an increase of 14.4% to 14.4 million decaliters.

Secretary of the Alcopro Guild Andrei Moskovsky connects the growth in sales of strong alcohol with the localization of production in Russia. The development of domestic production made it possible to reduce retail prices for these categories of drinks.

Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko drew attention to the stabilization of alcohol consumption in Russia. At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova noted a reduction in per capita alcohol consumption from 14 to 8 liters from the beginning of the national project "Healthcare" in 2018.

The total sales of alcoholic beverages in Russia, with the exception of beer, beer drinks, cider, poiret and mead, decreased by 1.1% to 226.9 million decaliters in 2024. Experts attribute this to the normalization of the market after a sharp increase in 2022.^[1]

2023

Quiet wine sales up 5.8% to 56.5 million decalitres

In 2023, 56.5 million decalitres (dal) of still wines were sold in Russia, which is 5.8% more than a year earlier. Sales of sparkling wines (champagne) increased by 8.3% and reached 21.7 million decaliters. The liquor wine market recorded 1.6-fold growth, up to 1.2 million decaliters. Rosalkogoltabakkontrol published such data on January 23, 2024.

Rosselkhozbank (RSHB) estimated the actual consumption of Russian wine at the end of 2023 at 90 million decaliters, and at the same time, more than half of this amount, according to the bank's estimates, was taken by domestic wine. The increase in the production of Russian wines, among other things, provided a prolonged restriction on the import of products from foreign producers, as well as the first harvests in vineyards laid down 4 years ago as part of the program to support Russian wine producers, the bank noted.

56.5 million decalitres (dal) of still wines were sold

From the materials of the RSHB it follows that a quarter of all champagne produced in the Russian Federation in 2023 fell on Moscow and the Moscow region, followed by St. Petersburg and Krasnodar Territory in terms of consumption. According to the bank, still wines are also consumed in large volumes in the capital and the region (22%), in St. Petersburg and the region (9%), Krasnodar Territory and Crimea - 2% each.

The bank also noted that with climate changes, the conditions for viticulture and winemaking in Russia are gradually improving: for example, production is shifting east and north in the European part of Russia and again, as in the USSR, it begins to develop in the Far East. The geographical direction of the development of domestic winemaking is shifting towards the Caspian Sea and the Volga River basin.

Thanks to climatic changes in the horizon up to 10 years, Russian winemakers will receive additional advantages to strengthen their positions in the domestic and international markets, the press service of Rosselkhozbank said.

They also added that the gross volume of technical grapes in 2023 was close to the record indicators of 2022 - 890 thousand tons.^[2]

The Ministry of Industry and Trade estimated the share of Russian wine in the market at 55%

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia said that the share of domestic wine in the Russian market by April 2023 increased to 55%, while before the adoption of the law on winemaking, the figure was 20-30%.

The fact that the share of Russian wine in the market for two years of the law on viticulture and winemaking reached 55% compared to the share of 20-30% that domestic wine occupied earlier, in December 2022, the Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin also said.

According to the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov, by April 2023, import substitution of sparkling and quiet wines is actively underway in the Russian Federation.

The share of domestic wine in the Russian market by April 2023 increased to 55%

In the wine cards of restaurants, the presence of domestic wine has also grown by an order of magnitude. Russian wine is becoming more and more attractive to consumers, "he said.

As explained in Roskachestvo, the increase in the share of Russian wine occurred during the period of the law "On viticulture and winemaking in the Russian Federation," which regulates the industry.

Thanks to this law, today we are effectively pursuing a policy of replacing imports of sparkling and quiet wines, - added to Roskachestvo.

According to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the RFMARINA Afonina, in recent years, viticulture and winemaking from a niche sphere of activity has turned into one of the most actively developing sectors of the agro-industrial complex.

Last [2022], farmers harvested a good harvest of high quality grapes - about 890 thousand tons, which is 18% more than the 2021 harvest. Also in 2022, the laying of vineyards increased by almost 43%, and their total area for the first time in modern history exceeded 100 thousand hectares, she said.

On April 10, 2023, Rosalkogolregulirovanie reported that in the first quarter of 2023, 2.5 million dal of champagne was produced in Russia (+ 14.4% compared to the same period in 2022), 6.027 million dal of grape wine (+ 2.7%), 0.721 million dal of grape-containing drinks without ethyl alcohol (+ 11.1%) and 0.27 million dal of liquor wines (+^[3]55%

The share of Russian sparkling wines in stores reached 70% - Ministry of Industry and Trade

In the sparkling wine market in the Russian Federation, domestic products account for 68%, and the share of Russian quiet wine is 52%. Such data in October 2023 was cited by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov.

According to him, such results of import substitution of alcoholic beverages were achieved, among other things, thanks to the participation of the authorities in promoting the product on the market. Viktor Yevtukhov cited the action "Days of Russian Wines," which is held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade together with the Ministry of Agriculture, as an example. He added that the promotion not only helped increase sales, but also led to higher recognition of domestic wine.

Domestic products account for 68% of sparkling wine in Russia

According to RIA Novosti, citing data from Roskachestvo, by October 2023, the popularity of foreign wine in Russia reached a record low value over the past two years - only 17% of citizens believe that it is much better than domestic wine. Meanwhile, the share of consumers preferring Russian wines continues to increase - for example, 22% of citizens consider it to be of better quality than foreign wines, and 29% believe that not all, but most domestic wines are superior in quality to foreign wines.

Yevtukhov noted that the consumer had already "tried" the domestic product and realized that it was not inferior to foreign counterparts. The deputy minister also stressed that wine fairs have also become good sales channels.

In June 2023, it became known that the Commission on Customs and Tariff Regulation under the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation is working on the issue of increasing customs duties on wine imports in Russia. The Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers proposed to limit the import of wine - up to the ban on supplies from unfriendly countries.^[4]

2022

Quiet and sparkling wine sales growth to 904m litres

In 2022, 904 million liters of wine were sold in Russia against 830 million liters a year earlier. Compared to 2018, the market volume grew by 22.5%, BusinesStat analysts calculated. Their data was published in mid-December 2023.

According to the researchers, wine sales in Russia are increasing largely due to the expansion of the assortment in different price categories. This factor helped offset the negative impact from the reduction in alcohol imports from European countries.

In 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on the import of premium segment alcohol into Russia, some of the large foreign companies independently left the Russian market (Diageo, LVMH, Pernod Ricard), others did not announce their departure, but significantly reduced supply volumes (Gruppo Campari, Brown-Forman). As noted in BusinesStat, fearing the disappearance of favorite wines from stores, in early 2022, Russians actively bought them "for future use." In the future, as stocks were exhausted, distributors timely organized the supply of wines through foreign intermediaries, but this led to an increase in prices for imported alcohol and a reorientation of consumers to a more affordable domestic one. The current situation was taken advantage of by Russian manufacturers, accelerating the process of import substitution and increasing their presence in the market, analysts add.

According to the results of 2022, analysts named the following companies as the largest wine producers in Russia:

• "Ochakovo";
• Tatspirtprom;
• "Kuban-Vino";
• «Ladoga»;
• "Eurasian Alcohol Group."

At the end of 2022, Italy remained the leader in importing wine into Russia, as in 2021. In 2022, distributors imported 19% more of its products than a year earlier - only 134.1 million liters.^[5]

Sales of champagne and sparkling wines in Russia increased by 8.6%

At the end of 2022, 20 million decaliters (dal) of sparkling and champagne wines were sold in Russia, which is 8.6% of the volume a year ago. This is evidenced by the data of the Federal Service for the Regulation of the Alcohol Market (Rosalkogolregulirovanie), which were published on January 24, 2023.

According to Rosselkhozbank estimates, the consumption of Russian sparkling wines in the Russian Federation in 2022 increased by 25% compared to 2021. According to experts, sales growth in the market was noted both in the retail segment and in the wholesale segment, which indicates a greater representation of the Russian product in the HoReCa segment (hotel and restaurant business). The Rosselkhozbank noted that the share of sparkling wines and champagne in 2022 amounted to 9% of total alcohol sales. Most sparkling wines were bought in Moscow (14%) and the Moscow region (11%). Among federal districts, the leaders were Central (36%), Northwest (14%), and Southern (14%) counties.

Traditionally, the highest sales rates of sparkling wines are noted on the eve of the holidays (New Year, March 8, February 14, etc.), as well as in the summer. So, by December, sales of sparkling as a rule grow almost 2 times compared to the beginning of the year. In addition, according to experts, the import of sparkling wines in January - August 2022 increased by 8% in value compared to the same period in 2021.

The Rosselkhozbank also noted that the production of sparkling wines in Russia in 2022 increased by 25%. Experts believe that the growth in the production of Russian sparkling wines is associated with the introduction of restrictions on the import of products from foreign producers, as well as a successful year for viticulture - in 2021, due to natural disasters, producers were forced to reduce the volume of products produced.^[6]

10% rise in wine imports to 405m litres

Wine imports in Russia in 2022 reached 405 million liters, which is 10% more than a year earlier. Such data from the Federal Customs Service (FCS) were released in early February 2023.

As RBC writes with reference to the statistics of the department, most of the wine in the Russian Federation was supplied from Italy, and the fastest growth in supplies year by year was shown by Uzbekistan (19 times) and Canada (6 times). In second place is Spain, imports grew 11%, to 66 million liters, and in third place is Georgia - the supply growth was 26%, to 58.7 million liters. As for Italy, the supply of wine from there in 2022 increased by 19% (to 134.1 million liters).

The top 10 main suppliers of wines Russia in 2022 also included,, France,, Portugal, and Chile. Abkhazia Germany REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Serbia

X5 Group became the largest importer among companies for the first time: in 2022, the retailer increased its own supplies by 62% to 34.9 million liters, overtaking alcohol distributors Luding Group and Simple Group. The same increased imports in physical terms by 3 and 19%, respectively: the Luding Group imported 30.1 million liters of wine, and the Simple Group - up to 21.2 million liters.

The Simple Group told the publication that the order of the numbers is similar to their own data, the Luding Group was not yet ready to comment on the issue, since by February 6, 2023 they had not completed the process of forming a consolidated import statistics for 2022.

In 2022, anti-Russian sanctions imposed after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine complicated the purchase and supply of goods to Russia and radically changed, among other things, the wine import market. The United States banned the supply of alcohol to Russia, Australia imposed a ban on the export of wine products, and the EU countries limited the supply of expensive wines to Russia (the ban affected goods more expensive than €300).^[7]

Growth of imports of wines from Uzbekistan by 4.5 times to 850 thousand liters in 9 months

Russian distributors have sharply increased the import of inexpensive wines from Uzbekistan. For three quarters of 2022, imports from this country to Russia increased 4.5 times, to almost 850 thousand liters.

Observation procedure introduced for one of the largest wine importers in Russia

As it became known at the end of October 2022, a monitoring procedure was introduced for one of the largest wine importers in Russia. We are talking about the company "Priorimpex." Read more here.

Wine imports from Armenia increased by 30% in six months

According to the results of the first half of 2022, the export of grape wine from Armenia to Russia increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2021. The volume of exports from Armenia to Russia of grape wines is about 1.7 million liters, fruit wines - 4.2 million liters.

Antinori wine house suspended supplies to Russia

In August 2022, one of the oldest Italian manufacturers, Antinori, whose main estates are concentrated in Tuscany, suspended supplies to Russia.

2021

Growth in sales of quiet wines by 0.7%, to 52.9 million decaliters

According to data released on January 25, 2022 by the National Consumer Protection Union, sales of quiet wines in 2021 amounted to 52.9 million decaliters, which is 0.7% less than a year ago. Sales of low-alcohol drinks with a strength of no more than 9 degrees grew at the highest pace in 2021. Over the year, they increased by 55.4%, to 11 million decaliters.

Champagne and sparkling wine sales up 6.9%

In 2021, 18.4 million decaliters of champagne and sparkling wines were sold in Russian retail, which is 6.9% more than a year earlier

Growth of wine imports in the 1st half of the year by 24.8%

According to the results of January - July 2021, wine imports to Russia increased by 24.82% year-on-year - to 18.87 million decaliters. The main suppliers of wine to Russia - Spain, Georgia and France - generally retained their positions , Italy and Portugal increased their shares by several percentage points. Importers increased supplies, trying to compensate for last year's fall due to a lockdown due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

At the same time, Russian winemakers, forced to use only local grapes, are losing market share, which has already decreased from 62% to 50%. Bad weather prevented this season: according to preliminary data, local winegrowers lost up to 20% of the harvest.

Notes