The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to increase the share of Russian wine in wine lists

It is necessary to amend Russian legislation to increase the share of domestic wine in restaurant wine lists. The corresponding initiative was presented by Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov at the plenary meeting of the Russian Wine Forum.

“We think that we probably need to consider a change in legislation, either in the law on winemaking, or in the law on trade, we need to think about it. So that Russian wine must be presented in some proportion on Russian wine lists,” said Mr. Evtukhov (quoted by Interfax).

According to Viktor Evtukhov, recently the representation of Russian wine in the wine lists of restaurants in large cities has almost tripled. However, according to the deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this is still not enough. “We want there to be more Russian wine in public catering. We believe that Russian wine should be positioned in some way, maybe occupy first places, maybe there should be special marks,” he explained.

Viktor Evtukhov recalled that the State Duma is currently preparing a bill on the creation of shelves with non-food products from domestic producers, the so-called “Russian shelves,” in retail chains. The Deputy Minister proposed to supplement the list of goods presented on the shelves with domestic wine.

In August, the Russian government increased the duty on wine imports from unfriendly countries from 12.5% ​​to 20%. According to Kommersant, due to this measure, in the last month of summer, the import of the drink decreased by almost 30% year on year. It was assumed that the increased duty would be in effect until the end of 2023, however, according to a Kommersant interlocutor close to the government, the increased fees on foreign wines will be extended.

Read more in the Kommersant article “Intense Duty Taste.”

Milena Kostereva