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Russian minister cautious on wine material import ban due to contradictions with WTO norms

9 out of 10 bottles of champagne in Russia was either imported, or was based on import wine material

© ITAR-TASS/Valery Sharifulin

KUALA LUMPUR, August 24. /TASS/. Russia's Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev says he is "cautious" about the idea of banning imports of wine materials, the Minister told journalists on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

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"I am very cautious about this proposal. There are issues with the WTO, issues with our wine producers, as they strongly depend on materials supplies. We shouldn't make rash decisions," Ulyukayev said.

As TASS reported earlier, Russian Agricultural Minister Alexander Tkachev on August 23 criticized wine materials import to Russia. According to him, importing and bottling such products under the Russian brands is unacceptable. Tkachev said that it is necessary either to significantly increase customs duties, or to ban import of wine materials in order to stop such actions.

At the same time, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Abrau-Durso Pavel Titov said that "the Agriculture Ministry wants to leave Russia without New Year, as 9 out of 10 bottles of champagne in Russia was either imported, or was based on import wine material." Very few producers work with Russian wine material, Titov added.

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