Last year, NATO countries supplied USD 873mn worth of wine to Russia, which is three percent of the total wine exports of these countries, according to RIA Novosti calculations based on open data.
Thus, out of 31 NATO member countries, 19 countries exported wine to Russia in 2023. The total volume of these shipments amounted to almost USD 873mn. This is three percent of the total wine exports of these nineteen countries, which amounted to USD 27bn last year.
Among NATO members, Latvia, Lithuania and Italy were expected to become the leaders in wine supplies to Russia, accounting for 87% of all "NATO" wine arriving in Russia. Latvia exported almost USD 373mn worth of wine, Lithuania - by USD 212mn, and Italia — by USD 172mn.
Next in terms of supplies of grape drink are Poland — USD 42.2mn, Spain — USD 28.3mn, Germany — USD 20.3mn, and Portugal — USD 12.7mn. France closes the top ten, exporting USD 7.4mn worth of wine to Russia, as well as Estonia — USD 1.7mn, and Bulgaria — USD 1.6mn.
Among the other countries of the alliance from which Moscow bought wine last year were Turkey (USD 718,000), the Czech Republic (USD 571,000), Greece (USD 530,000), Finland (USD 419,000), Hungary (USD 409,000), North Macedonia (USD 218,000), as well as Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands with supply volumes of up to USD 200,000.
Earlier this week, Alexey Plotnikov, executive secretary of the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia, told RIA Novosti that the association had asked the authorities to set import duties for wines from NATO countries at 200% and cancel the preferential import duties regime for wines from Georgia. In addition, cafes and restaurants are proposed to require from September 1, 2024 to have at least 50% of Russian wine names in the wine list, and alcohol retailers to have at least 20% of Russian wine in the assortment, followed by an increase in its share to 50%.
At the end of July last year, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development reported that the Russian government had increased import duties on wines from unfriendly countries by the end of 2023 - from 12.5% to 20, but not less than USD 1.5 per liter. The measure began to take effect on August 1. Later, this measure was extended for the entire year 2024.
Source: Oreanda-News