OREANDA-NEWS  The export of Russian vodka in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year decreased by 77% to 752,027 liters in terms of pure alcohol and by 76.75% to $6.33 million in monetary terms. This is evidenced by the data of the Federal Customs Service, which was reviewed by Vedomosti. The representative of the service did not comment on the indicators, referring to the fact that information on foreign trade for individual product groups is temporarily not provided.

The drop in exports is due to the ban on the supply of this type of alcohol to the EU, USA and Canada, says the director of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFRRA) Vadim Drobiz. According to him, these markets accounted for up to a third of the total volume of exported products. At the same time, expensive vodka was sold, which gave [companies] not only foreign exchange earnings, but also additional advantages for the image, the expert notes.

The ban on the supply of alcohol from Russia to the EU countries was adopted by the sixth package of sanctions in July 2022. The United States banned the import of Russian vodka in March last year, and Canada began to restrict supplies in February.

The dynamics were also noticed by large vodka producers. The representative of Rust (brands "Russian Standard", "Talka", etc.) also linked them to sanctions. The company plans to reorient supplies to the markets of the CIS, the Middle East, India and the Asia-Pacific region. Rust expects that by 2024 these directions will completely replace the volume of export sales to Western Europe and America, the representative assured. Stellar Group (brands "Veda", "Gzhelka", etc.) is working to increase shipments to Africa, Central Asia, China, Israel, assured the commercial director of the company Alexander Grevtsov. He expects exports to grow in the second half of the year.