Russian wine producer Abrau-Dyurso hoping for at least an experiment in internet wine sales
VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Abrau-Dyurso , a leading producer of sparkling wines in Russia, hopes that positive decisions will be made regarding the online trade of wine, and in particular at least on conducting an experiment in this area.
"We have been fighting with all our might for many years for permission to trade wine online, and maybe only Russian wine, which would support Russian winemaking. These discussions are ongoing now. Almost all food market products are already traded online; it's a bit of a pity that specifically Russian alcohol is not allowed to enter [the online market]," Abrau-Dyurso CEO Elena Zaritskaya said during a session at the Eastern Economic Forum on Thursday.
"I hope that the people involved in law-making will, at some point, at least agree to an experiment that will allow the sale of wine on some marketplaces or under certain conditions," she said.
Zaritskaya did not rule out that this will be a complex procedure. "But we are waiting for it; as Abrau-Dyurso, we are ready for it," she said, while also admitting that this channel is unlikely to lead to a multiple increase in sales. "But at the same time, it will contribute to the recognition of our brand and any other brands of Russian winemakers, which is what we are fighting for. We even have our own project Vino.ru, where we talk about small winemakers and wineries that cannot reach consumers on their own, as it is a very long road for them - they usually produce very little wine, and it is not the cheapest," she said.
As the main beneficiary of Abrau-Dyurso, Boris Titov, said previously, selling wine online remains a major problem. "This is implemented all over the world; it doesn't bother anyone. We have a big stumbling block here," he said.
As reported, online alcohol trade has been prohibited in Russia since 2007, but attempts to legalize it have been made throughout subsequent years. First, the Finance Ministry prepared a corresponding bill aimed at starting online trade in 2020. However, the Health Ministry and the Internal Affairs Ministry opposed this.
In 2021, the Russian president instructed the government and Russian Post to conduct an experiment on the sale of Russian wines. The sales channel was supposed to be administered through Russian Post's aggregators. It was assumed that sales would begin in 2023.
In April 2023, the Russian government approved and submitted to the State Duma a bill on conducting an experiment on the retail online sale of domestic wine from November 1, 2023, to July 31, 2026, in Moscow and the Moscow region. However, the Internal Affairs Ministry opposed conducting the experiment, noting that it did not participate in the preparation of the bill, which was developed by the Finance Ministry.
The Federal Service for Alcohol and Tobacco Oversight (Rosalkogoltabakcontrol) also opposes online trade. In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta in March 2024, the head of the service, Igor Alyoshin, said that given the existing number of legal stores, there is no urgent need for such an additional sales channel. "The consequences of this permission could be unpredictable," he said.
The decision on the controversial issue of organizing wine trade via the internet remains frozen, State Secretary and Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov told journalists earlier this year. "The issue is frozen; the bills are not moving forward," he said.
Abrau-Dyurso sold 66.862 million bottles of products in 2024, including 66.063 million of its own production. Both figures are 18% higher than in 2023.
