RUSSIANS ARE FACED WITH A SHORTAGE OF SPARKLING WINES

Boris Titov announced possible interruptions in the production of Russian wineries. He did this during the opening ceremony of the III Stolypin Forum, which was devoted to the immune system of the global economy.

According to the business ombudsman, the volume of the harvest in Russia may decrease by a quarter in 2020. Titov called the situation in viticulture as difficult as in the entire national business.

According to him, first of all, the pandemic had a negative impact on the situation in viticulture.

It caused the losses of 1.5 trillion rubles, which is about 36% of the total profit in all industries. And although the government supported entrepreneurs by allocating comparable funds to solve the problems, this could not completely eliminate the economic consequences. After all, the support was aimed at different segments of the population, but not just at business.

Along with the general adversity caused by COVID-19, other problems have caused damage to viticulture - for example, the climate change on the planet. And although, according to the ombudsman, business could not afford to go for the self- isolation, this year's results were disappointing.

One of the consequences may be the lack of domestic sparkling wine on the tables of Russians. Titov called this a “drinking shortage”.

It is worth noting that statistical data let us consider 2019 as a record year for the volume of grapes harvested in Russia (638,000 tons) over the past 30 years. Compared to 2018, the gross collection increased by 8%. As for the quality of wines, experts call 2012 and 2014 the most successful.

Titov is well aware of the situation in the industry, because the family of a professional Hispanic (the billionaire is a graduate of MGIMO and has worked as a translator from Spanish for many years) owns the Abrau-Dyurso holding, and his son Pavel heads this group of companies.

Boris Titov himself held the position of CEO of the company until 2012, after which he ended up in public service.

It is known that the Ombudsman has already made an appeal to the government, asking for the assistance to business for the next year. Lack of such support can lead to an exponential increase in the number of bankruptcies and affect entrepreneurial activity in general.