Russia faces a huge shortage of imported wine & liquor, and many alcohol distributors face financial ruin, after legislation calling for a new excise stamp to be displayed on imported bottles came into force Sunday.
The problem is that the issuing of government-issued stamps has been delayed through bureaucratic bungling and so many importers, who must put the stamps on themselves, have not actually been able to conform to the new regulations. Calls for the delaying of the legislation’s implementation have been rejected. In addition, importers are required to purchase thousands of dollars of new equipment and software to carry out the stamping job. The equipment must then be installed and certified by a company with links to the FSS - the new KGB - in a special room with a certain temperature, a prescribed amount of space and the right size of dust particles in the air.
This all follows another move that hit alcohol importers and sellers hard earlier this year: the banning of Georgian and Moldovan wines, ostensibly on health grounds; critics contend it was introduced as a political backlash against what Russian authorities see as two recalcitrant former Soviet states. According to Vadim Drobiz, a spokesman for a union of wine and spirit makers and dealers, this further crackdown on imports will result in half of the country’s alcohol distributors going out of business. Authorities contend that while half of the requested new stamps have yet to be issued, importers have had time to purchase the new equipment.
Alcohol resellers have been forced to either sell their stock at highly discounted prices or return their old bottles in order to clear their shelves of old merchandise. For the foreseeable future, Russians will now have to contend with Russian vodkas and liquor. While it was also subject to new legislation, new stamps were issued on time for the April deadline, all through a different government.
For a feel of how locals were preparing for the new Russian alcohol market, read “Wine Shelves With a Vintage Look” by Masha Gessen of The Moscow Times.