Russian Minister States the Ban on Wine Imports will not alter Prices in Russia

The ban on imports of wine from Moldova and Georgia will not hike prices of these products on the Russian market, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev told Itar-Tass on Wednesday, May 10. Gordeyev declared so just before Russian President Vladimir Putin began his annual state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly. In his view, the decision to ban imports of wine from other states will not contribute to Russia's inflation. Banning the imports of wine from the two states according to the Russian minister “means a ban on imports of falsified products”. He specified that “it is better to pay the price that matches the high quality of a product, than risk one's health”. Previously, the president of the National Association for Alcoholic Products from Russia, Pavel Sapkin declared for the Russian press-agency “RIA Novosti” that in the next two months the prices for Russian wines could increase by 30% as a result of the decision to ban the imports of the Moldovan and Georgian wines. According to the quoted source the price for wine have already went up by 10%, because about a half of the Russian wines are produced using Moldovan wine raw materials, imports of which have also been banned.