Vodka production up 30%

The growth has not been this high in several years. In April and May, distilleries produced respectively 6,5 and 6,3 million decaliters, an increase of about 30 percent year-on-year, newspaper Vedomosti reports. 

Head of the Russian Union of Alcohol Producers Dmitry Dobrov explains the production hike with the introduction of a new control regime by the authorities. That has put a stop to large flows of illegally liquor produced in the North Caucasus. 

About 20 percent of vodka sold in Russia was until recently produced illegally, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Khloponin said in a recent government meeting. Those market shares might now be taken back by officially approved producers, he argues.

The black market for alcohol has over the past years significantly grown following introduction of higher duties on producers. From 2011 to 2014, the duties per liter vodka almost doubled, Vedomosti writes. 

As the black market grew, the official vodka production figures dropped. 

Figures from the Russian Statistical Service (Rosstat), show that official vodka production volumes per capita in 2015 amounted to 7,1 liters, down from 15 liters in 2003. 

The trends in the Russian regions has been similar. In Murmansk Oblast, the figures in the same period declined from 21,3 liters to 10,7 liters, in Arkhangelsk from 31,9 to 12,2 liters and in Karelia from 14,2 to 13,6 liters.

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