OREANDA-NEWS. It is necessary to allow Russian winemakers to use imported raw materials in order to avoid a shortage of the product, Maxim Chernigovsky, Candidate of Economic Sciences, General Director of the Alcohol Market Professionals Club, told Lenta.ru. Now it is prohibited for Russian producers by the law on viticulture and winemaking.

The situation should be changed and domestic winemakers should be allowed to use imported raw materials. Then they will be able to fully provide the domestic market with their products. Today, production capacities are used by about 60%, there is a catastrophic lack of wine materials, this is the main problem, Chernigovskiy said.

He added that in Russia there are about 100,000 hectares for vineyards, and they need 250,000. Since over the past eight years the area has increased by five thousand hectares, it will take 30 years to close the need.

Chernigovsky noted that he does not expect a deficit, but the import of wines will become much more expensive.

Earlier it was reported that geopolitical tensions, the devaluation of the ruble and logistical problems could lead to a drop in alcohol imports to Russia by 20-40% in annual terms. The consequences are expected to be comparable to those of the 2014 crisis. Distributors are already working on changing logistics routes and settlements with suppliers.