The law "On the development of viticulture and winemaking in the Russian Federation" provides for the transfer of powers to control the production of wines from the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The law "On the development of viticulture and winemaking in the Russian Federation" the draft of that is under consideration in the State Duma is particularly expected in the South of Russia and the North Caucasus where almost all of the Russian grapes are grown primarily for wine production. According to interviewed winemakers and experts, the recognition of wine as a product of an agricultural product will solve many problems of a risk industry and provide a real support to small wineries.
The bill on winemaking in Russia was introduced to the State Duma in July. It provides for the transfer of powers to control the process of wine production from the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, an opportunity for wine producers to independently make in certain territories additional conditions for controlling quality of the drink, as well as incentives for entrepreneurs and agricultural producers who create nurseries for growing grapes in Russia.
Separate the wine from vodka
Currently, viticulture and winemaking are in the same legislative field with the production of alcohol and vodka, but the law written for a hard alcohol industry is absolutely not suitable for winemakers, said TASS director of the Agricultural firm "Southern" (Krasnodar Territory) Sergey Tarahno.
"The norms of the law do not correspond to the realities and validity of winemaking, and this significantly hinders the development of the industry." We need change the structure of alcohol consumption towards wine production, and it need be changed not only through changes in output, but also in the mind of the consumer. It is impossible to do without a separate law, separate provisions that make possible to popularize the culture of wine consumption». Sergei Lysenko, the Director of the Stavropol grape planting, says the law that will regulate the production of wine as an agricultural product, not alcohol, will provide a qualitative leap in the development of the industry. "Wine which is made from Russian grapes without the addition of alcohol must become an agricultural product, it must be regulated as an ordinary agricultural product - meat, milk, corn, corn and so on", - said Lysenko.
The law for Russian wine
Crimean winemakers expect that the status of an agricultural commodity producer will allow winemaking farms of the Peninsula to solve several serious problems at once, including to get subsidies and launch a large-scale re-stocking of old vineyards with new ones, and in a long term to expand planting areas. "And most important is to create competition for enterprises that bottle wines from imported cheap wine materials on the territory of the Russian Federation and present it as a Russian wine", - explained General Director of FSUE "PJSC Massandra" Janina Pavlenko.
She says that the production of wine from its own grapes is more expensive than from imported grapes: it is necessary to grow grapes, harvest, process and once in 25-30 years to replant old unproductive vineyards with new promising seedlings. " This is difficult but the only true way, since wine is a product of the area and a high-quality Russian winemaking is inconceivable without Russian grapes", - explained the expert.
