Georgia overtakes Italy as top supplier of still wines to Russia

Georgia surpassed Italy in the supply of still wines to Russia in the first five months of 2023. Kommersant discusses this in detail, including customs data. According to them, Georgia imported 24.15mn litres of still wines into Russia, while Italy imported 23.36mn litres.

Imports from countries increased by 63% and 31%, respectively, year on year. As a result, Georgia's volume share of still wine supply to Russia was 19.1%, while Italy's was 18.5%. Imports of still wines from Spain climbed by 25%, to 20.46mn litres, from France by 23%, to 10.04mn litres, and from Portugal by 69%, to 9.61 mn litres per year.

Alexander Lipilin, Executive Director of the wine trading company Fort says that imports from Georgia began to increase by the end of 2022 due to the absence of payment and logistics issues. According to him, the increase in the share of Georgian wines is primarily due to retail chains' own imports in the low and medium price ranges. AST CEO Leonid Rafailov mentions, retail has converted to direct contracts with manufacturers and can now provide the lowest pricing on the shelf.

Ernest Khachaturian, Executive Director of the Luding Group, said that wines from Georgia and Armenia had little volatility in value. Wines from Georgia are entitled to zero import charge, according to Alexander Stavtsev, head of the WineRetail information centre. Experts mention payment difficulties, increased exchange rates, and greater prices for certain commodities can all slow deliveries from Italy.

Georgian wines compete with Russian wines in the midrange price range, according to experts. According to one of the main winemakers, the general domination of imported wine causes a dilemma for local producers. There is also a concern about raw materials for expanding Georgian deliveries; it is probable that the growth is the passage of European wine in bulk through a Georgian bottle, according to the newspaper's interlocutor.

The Georgian government announces total wine exports from the country in 2022 amounted to 103mn litres.