The Ministry of Finance abolished the reduced excise duties for wine importers that use the protected geographical indication (ZSU) and protected designation of origin (SNMP). This may lead to the withdrawal of the Russian market of a significant part of importers. Reduced excise duty came into force on 1 January 2016: for quiet protected wines he is five rubles per liter, sparkling — 14 rubles.
In April the Director of the Department of tax and customs policy of the Ministry of Finance Alexey Sazanov sent to the first Deputy head of the Federal customs service (FCS) Ruslan Davydov letter, which explained that the application of reduced excise duty rates for still and sparkling wines with ZSU and SNMP probably only made in Russia products.
Customs has already informed importers that enjoy the benefits from the beginning of their actions, that they will have to pay the difference in excise tax over time. According to estimates by the owner of the company "Moro" Dmitry Crude, in the event of cancellation of the lowered excise taxes will leave the market up to 80 percent of the Russian companies as a result of ruin. "We gave the correct customs Declaration check, no questions. And now, after a year and a half, we are told: Oh, excuse me, we have somehow miscalculated the excise tax" — the story Raw. Experts also noted that some large companies assessed the fee may exceed 100 million rubles. The President "distrust Ladoga" Veniamin Grabar said that the product range of his company on a secure wine accounts for up to 40 percent of production.
On 10 may, the CPS allowed deliveries to Russia of 20 types of Moldovan wines, the import ban which was introduced in 2006. The decision was reasoned by the presence in the production of pesticides. In March 2017 alcohol importers are faced with a shortage of excise stamps, which had problems with the delivery of wine and spirits. In January it was reported about increase in 2016, 4.5% of import of wine to Russia. A year into the country from abroad imported about 175 million liters of alcoholic beverage. Import alcohol in Russia started to grow last year after a record fall in 2015.