BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
Sales of wine products in Azerbaijan’s domestic market amounted to slightly less than 200,000 decaliters, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Wine Producers and Exporters Association Elchin Madatov told Trend.
According to Madatov, the products of Azerbaijani wineries are widely represented in all chains and grocery stores throughout the country and anyone can purchase any drink on the shelves of grocery stores.
Touching upon the export of the wine products, Madatov stressed that the association is currently negotiating with South Korea to expand cooperation.
“A very sharp decline in wine exports has been observed since March 2020. The leading positions in the export list were occupied by Russia and China. The export of wines to China has been completely stopped due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the total trade turnover with this country has been reduced. But the export to Russia, which accounts for over 80 percent of the supplies of Azerbaijani wine products, was greatly influenced by the fall in the ruble exchange rate. For the Russian buyer, Azerbaijani wine has become sharply expensive, despite the fact that excise duties on alcohol have been increased in this country since this year,” he stressed.
The main exporters of Azerbaijani wine products are Shaki Winery, Jalilabad Winery, Ganja Winery, Goygol Winery, as well as a number of other private companies engaged in the production of alcoholic beverages.
The volume of wine production in Azerbaijan in 2019 was over 500,000 decaliters. In 2019, a record grape crop was harvested in Azerbaijan - more than 190,000 tons, which is 30 percent more than in 2018.
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