South African exports to Russia soar

Russia’s wine imports grew by around 13% to 450 million litres (or over 700 million Euros) last year, according to Vadim Drobiz, the director of the Research Centre for Investigations of Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (CIFFRA).

And South Africa’s exports have fared particularly well, with bottled wine sales to Russia rocketing, increasing by 76% to over three million litres, according to Wines of South Africa (WOSA). 

This is the highest volume of bottled wine ever exported from South Africa to Russia, and makes it the fastest growing export market in 2016.  

However, it is no mean feat for South African producers to navigate their way through the complex Russian market, given the tough bureaucracy and import regulations, as well as the differing business ethics, culture and language barriers.  

And the success of South African exports in the past year has been achieved despite the fact that there are currently few bodies or vehicles which can help South African producers get a foothold on this market place

Since WOSA withdrew its activities and financial support from Russia in 2014, the market in that country went through rough waters. Due to the devaluation of the national currency, international sanctions and economic crisis Russia shifted its focus to increasing its own local production.

As a result, imports fell sharply and Russia dropped out of the world’s top five wine importing countries in 2015.   Russia has a highly volatile wine market, which has see periods of rapid growth often followed by drastic declines. But 2016 proved to be another turning point with with oil prices stabilizing and the Ruble strengthening.