Abrau-Dyurso exports around 1.5 mln bottles of products in 2024

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Abrau-Dyurso Group , a leading producer of sparkling wines in Russia, exported approximately 1.5 million bottles of its products in 2024.

"The final figure for last year was slightly under 1.5 million bottles," the company's president and board chairman Pavel Titov said at a press conference at Interfax's central office on Monday.

Over the past three years, many companies have essentially had to rebuild their export programs from scratch, he said. "Fortunately, we have established markets - primarily the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] and Belarus. We've resumed operations in duty-free shops at all international airports in Russia," he said. "There are small shipments to Europe and the Middle East. But China is undoubtedly our main investment focus," he said.

Last year, the company began supplying products from its Tsar Collection line to China. "We see interest in the Russian imperial dynasty across many markets, and who better than us to develop this theme? We're closely connected to the history of the Russian Empire [the Abrau-Dyurso estate was established in 1870 by decree of Alexander II]," Titov said. "We supply both sparkling and still wines. This is currently a trial period," he said.

Current shipments to China "amount to hundreds of thousands of bottles," he said. "In the grand scheme of things, this is modest for us, but brand recognition is growing rapidly. We're not focusing solely on Abrau-Dyurso. To succeed in exports, we need to prove to the Chinese market that Russia is a winemaking nation," he said. "For now, they concentrate on more traditional producing countries like Italy, France, and New World regions. We need to establish ourselves as equals on the international winemaking landscape," he said.

Together with other wineries as part of a strategy to promote Russian winemaking in China, Abrau-Dyurso is implementing the Path of Russian Wine project, he said.

Abrau-Dyurso entered the Indian market in 2024, initiating contract production of sparkling fruit juice beverages under the Tsar Collection brand there.

"We need to explore more accessible market segments. While this project isn't very visible yet, it has significant potential," he said.

As reported, the company plans to export up to 2 million bottles this year.