MOSCOW, August 7. / TASS / The export of Russian vodka has decreased during the first half of 2015 by two-fold and amounted to $48.6 million, the Federal Customs Service said in a report on Friday.
In total, 700 tonnes of vodka was exported from Russia for the first half of 2015, which is 40% less than last year. At the same time, the largest export drop was seen to CIS countries, Russian manufacturers supplied 132 million tonnes of vodka, which is 75% less than last year, and received $7.5 million, which is 5 times less than the previous year. During the same time, 569 million tonnes of vodka was supplies to non-CIS countriefirsts, which is 11% less than the previous year.
According to the General Director of the Research Center of Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (TSIFRRA) Vadim Drobiz, one of the reasons for the decline of vodka export is the deterioration of the sentiment towards Russian vodka due to the geopolitical situation. At the same time, Drobiz said, that 30-35% of the vodka used to export to Ukraine. "That is the market that we have lost. It's a risk to send vodka to the Ukraine," he said.
In May, one of the largest vodka producers, Roust, reported that its sales of Russian vodka fell by 33% in annual terms in the first quarter of 2015.
According to the statement, Roust attributed the decline to the fact that during that period the company was in talks with its key clients on raising prices on its products and signing discount agreements.
The company said it expects an increase in sales already in the second quarter of the year.
In January-March, shipments of Roust products dropped 14 % to more than 4.5 mln 9-liter cases.
Considering that no increase in excise duties on wine and spirits is expected in Russia and Poland in the near future, Roust expects a speedy growth in sales in 2015-2016.
The volume of wheat and rye export from Russia in monetary terms for the January - June 2015 has decreased by 23.5 % to $1.22 billion, against $ 1.6 billion for the same period last year. However, the volume of export in volume has declined by only 4%.
However, 619.8 tonnes of wheat and rye mixture was delivered to CIS countries, which are 7% more than last year, while 4.9 million tonnes were sent to non-CIS countries this year, which is 13.5% less than before.