Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Bulgaria sharply reduces wine exports to Russia
Exports of Bulgarian wines to Russia have fallen by 60% over the first 9 months of the current year, says Mr. Vitaliy Merkushev, Chairman of the Black Sea Winemaking Forum.
According to him, Bulgarian winemakers do not see any potential in the Russian market and have focused on other countries.
Mr. Merkushev says that Russia purchased about a half of all Bulgarian wines in 2013, and sometimes the share had reached 80%. «We suggest that Bulgarian winemakers again pay attention to the Russian market. Some of them decided that Russia had banned wine imports as a part of countersanctions, but it is not true». Bulgarian winemakers will have to work strenuously to restore their share in the Russian market, but now they stand a good chance to do it, according to him.
Answering the questions of how popular Bulgarian wines are now in Russia, Mr. Merkushev says that consumers are unable to change their preferences over a year, but the demand has nevertheless fallen. He believes that to popularize their wines, the Bulgarian industry participants have to promote their products in a way like Chilean or Georgian ones do.