Bisso Atanassov, himself a Moscow-based wine importer as well as wine writer, so arguably less detached than ideal contributors to this site, sends this report on the volatile Russian wine market.
The Russian wine market, fourth biggest import market in the world in 2008 according to recent OIV figures (see Something for the weekend), has this year been substantially affected by the financial crisis. The import figures for the first half of 2009 reveal some marked trends and help to explain the situation.
Imports
Total imports for the first six months of 2009 have plummeted by 41% by volume...