MOSCOW Russia’s number one propagandist Dmitri Kiselev goes to the exhibition hall of the wine producers’ forum. Media photographers swarm around.
Kiselov’s role shows that the wine industry now enjoys the protection of the Russian state power. Much of the wine production is concentrated in the southern regions of Rostov and Krasnodar – and in Crimea, which was occupied by Russia in 2014.
The director general of the state-owned news agency Rossija Segodnja is known in the West mainly for his tough rhetoric as a television host. In 2014, Kiselev said that Russia is the only country that can turn the United States into radioactive ash.
At the wine forum held in Hotel Ukraine in Moscow at the beginning of November, Kiseljov moves in a more peaceful role, as chairman of the board of the association of wine growers and producers.
– If there is a supply of good wine, if there is – excuse the word – propaganda and promotion, then people drink less vodka. It’s healthier, it’s more beautiful. Viticulture and winemaking are, in addition to food culture, a great cultural phenomenon, Kiseljov enthuses for the Russian media.
The wine forum reflects the efforts of the Russian government to increase its own wine production. At the forum, Crimean companies were smoothly presented as domestic as well.
Wine production is an important way of life in Crimea, so its promotion helps Russia to bind the peninsula as its own.
Ukraine has, among other things, protested the privatization of the traditional farm and the large Massandra winery in Crimea to Russian ownership.
– The situation in the wine market is very good. Above all, there is a strong trend that the Russian consumer has begun to trust Russian wine, CEO of winemaker Zolotaja Balkan Jelena Kostenko says to .
He praises the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance for the wine industry.
Like many of the companies presented at the wine forum, Zolotaja Balka is also from the Crimean peninsula, Balaklava.
The state makes room for Russian wines
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, about 600 million liters of wine products were produced in Russia last year. This year, production is expected to rise to 700 million liters.
Russia has raised import duties on wines from so-called unfriendly countries. Russia considers the EU and NATO countries to be such. In August, customs duties already rose to 25 percent.
The association represented by Kiseljov has proposed raising tariffs to at least 50 percent, if not even 200 percent. The Ministry of Agriculture wants to proceed more cautiously.
The Russian Ministry of Trade and Industry has made a bill according to which at least one-fifth of the wine list in restaurants and on the wine shelves of shops should have domestic production.
The European Union, on the other hand, has imposed an export ban to Russia on wines that cost at least 300 euros per bottle. However, it concerns a very small slice of the Russian market, and the rich have a way of getting their hands on top wines through third countries.
On the other hand, the EU has tried to make life difficult for Russian wine producers by banning the export of natural corks to Russia. The leading producers are located in the EU in Portugal and Spain.
Sanctions have apparently been circumvented at least through Turkey, German DW write.
In January-August, wine imports from the EU fell to their lowest level in 20 years. The state news agency RIA Novosti by in January-August, 126 thousand tons of wine were imported to Russia from the EU, a quarter less than at the same time last year.
Brand ambassador for Derbent Vino operating in South Dagestan Murad Alibekov tells at the wine fair that the Russian wine market is developing by leaps and bounds.
The external reason is the duties imposed on imported wines, the internal reason is state support for wineries and winemakers, says Alibekov.
According to Alibekov, the biggest challenge is the insufficient area of the vineyards. It prevents us from producing as much wine as the market would demand.
– A strong renovation of the vineyards is now underway. We are replanting vineyards and people around us are planting vineyards, says Jelena Kostenko.
Wine culture is developing in Russia
A Crimean winemaker Valery Zaharin a brand ambassador representing the company and a long-time influencer in the wine industry Oleg Filippov says that the Russian wine market has developed strongly over the past 15–20 years.
According to him, the difference is like between earth and sky. Filippov founded Russia’s first wine magazine in 1995.
– In 1995, people in Russia knew Hungarian, Bulgarian, and naturally Georgian wines. The knowledge was limited to that, Oleg Filippov tells .
– Now the knowledge of the community of Russian wine experts is at the highest level.
According to Oleg Filippov, sanctions have helped Russian production. Imported wines are still widely available, but they are now more expensive.
Filippov estimates that in terms of quality, Russian wine producers are able to replace 95-96 percent of foreign wine imports. Only the highest quality wines are still unattainable.
Filippov says that wine tasting events have grown in popularity. Russia is also developing wine tourism.
Brand ambassador of the Crimean Wine Park company Nastya Kryukova says that interest in wine tourism on the Black Sea coast is growing.
– Not only from the point of view of vacationing, but precisely from the point of view of deepening the wine culture, Nastja Krjukova tells .
– The wine culture in Russia is undeniably developing, our guests are starting to be less suspicious of local products, many prejudices are breaking down.
One would imagine that the ongoing war would make wine tourism in Crimea difficult. Kryukova admits that the closure of Simferopol airport has made logistics difficult. The representatives of Crimean wines do not complain about their circumstances on the forum.
Zolotaja Balkan CEO Jelena Kostenko thought it was good that foreign wines are still available in Russia. It makes Russian wine producers invest in quality.
– For me, the worst fear is that we would return to the quality that was in the Soviet Union. There was Sovetskaya champagne and that was all. Now look at the versatility of sparkling wines, says Kostenko.