Photo: Nikolai OBEREMCHENKO
In Moscow, from March 15 to 17, the Vinspiration food and wine salon was held. The main event of its business program was the plenary session “The alcohol market in modern realities” with the participation of representatives of Roskachestvo, Rosalkogolregulirovanie, FAS Russia, the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia, the National Research Center “Institute Kurchatov”, the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia and the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the Russian Federation.
Denis Gulyaev, Deputy Director of Rosalkogolregulirovanie, spoke in an exclusive interview with KP about how the Russian alcohol market has changed and how it is developing in 2023:
– Salon Vinspiration is a wonderful event necessary to support Russian wine producers, so that our citizens can get acquainted with their products, – he stressed.
– Denis Rafisovich, what trends would you highlight in the development of the alcoholic beverages market in Russia? How are consumer tastes changing?
– For us, as a regulator, the main trend is, of course, the laundering of the market. With virtually unchanged consumption volume, there is an increase in production and retail sales. This means that our consumer chooses legal products and steers clear of the often dangerous moonshine.
Speaking in absolute terms, our producers managed to replace almost double the alcoholic products that were no longer supplied to the country due to the imposition of sanctions. Another positive indicator is the collection of special taxes. Last year, the budget received an additional 39 billion rubles in excise duties. At the same time, as can be seen from the Ministry of Health statistics, there is no increase in alcohol consumption as such. We are talking about import substitution and laundering the industry.
Import substitution is happening in all directions. If we talk about wine, two or three years ago we had 900 brands of Russian wine, and now there are about 7,000 brands. The same can be said of spirits and other strong alcoholic beverages. As a consumer, I often choose products from Russian manufacturers. On the one hand, it is interesting to try in terms of curiosity. On the other hand, it almost always lives up to my expectations.
– By the way, more Russian drinks have appeared not only in stores, but also on restaurant wine lists.
– It is nice! And it is good, including for the popularization of our country in terms of tourism.
And another trend worth paying attention to is the growing popularity of the so-called southern type of consumption. There is an opinion that in Russia they drink mainly strong alcoholic beverages. However, practice shows that our citizens are gradually switching to low-alcohol drinks and wines.
On the part of the State, our wine producers have full support. There are serious state programs to support viticulture and winemaking. You just have to get down to business and work. And everything will be great. But I will tell you honestly: the main trend is support for domestic producers by the population. Our citizens are really beginning to choose high-quality Russian wines. And this is the most important.
