One hundred and fifty French farmers blocking the road, stopped the convoy of five huge tankers with Spanish wine. Threatening drivers with punishment, they poured more than 30 thousand liters of the product to the ground. Two tanker trucks of wine left, and three attackers were allowed to leave half empty by writing on their sides warning that the wine is substandard. It happened in the Languedoc-Roussillon region near the village of Le Boulou 10 km from the border with Spain.
The attack comes as part of the overall campaign against the lowering of food prices. French winemakers protest against rapidly growing imports of cheap wines, they are outraged that draught table wine from Spain is being sold for 30-40 Euro per hectoliter (100 liters), while a similar French wine worth twice the price is 70-80 euros.
“In 2015, were imported 7.2 million hectoliters of foreign wine. We are against, we suspect some kind of fraud”, – quotes the head of the local Union of winemakers frédéric Rouen, the channel “Euronews”.
All this happened in the presence of journalists and police, however police did not let the winemakers. Diplomatic scandal erupted. Spain urged the French authorities to find justice for their farmers who organize raids on tanks with Spanish wine on the border of the two countries.
To protect the Spanish manufacturer taken by the government: the French Ambassador was summoned to the Spanish foreign Ministry. In addition, Madrid appealed for help in Brussels. The foreign Minister of Spain, josé maría Garcia-margallo said: “the European Commission will start an investigation against French attacks on Spanish trucks. This is unacceptable in relations between two countries that are partners and friends.”
Spain formally protested to the French authorities and demanded to ensure the unhindered and safe movement of goods. “These events, which, unfortunately, occur regularly, are of concern to the Spanish government as grossly violate some basic principles of the EU such as free movement of goods between participating countries”, – reads the statement of the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
French winemakers suspect that the comparative cheapness of Spanish wines because their production is the South American “bulk” (bulk wine is bulk wine, in Russia it belongs to the wine – approx. of the author). The French blamed the Spaniards that mixed those cheap bulk wine from South America and is sold under the more expensive brands.
France steps up imports of wine from Spain and Italy instead of developing their own production.
Due to the low taxes and the absence of customs barriers inside the EU Spanish Italian and French winemakers displace competitors from the market.
According to the International organization of wine (OIV), France gave Italy its place at the top of the list of the largest wine producers in the world. They were followed by Spain, USA, South America, South Africa. Russia occupies the 12th place in the world. Largest area of vineyards in first place in the world is Spain, second left China, surpassing France to third place in the list.
In the France area wineries, purchased by foreign investors, mainly British and Chinese, reached 12 thousand hectares, representing almost 2 percent of the total vineyard area. These figures cover only winery, producing red wine, and do not take into account the production of cognac and champagne.
30 years ago French wines in restaurants around the world accounted for about 80% of the wine list, they now make up about 40%. And that’s one of the reasons for the indignation of the French winemakers.
In the European Union are not only a wine war, the difference in prices for agricultural products between neighbouring countries is often the subject of conflict. So, in July last year, the French farmers were stopped at the border with Spain and Germany trucks with meat, milk, fruits. According to farmers, about 10% of farms in France are on the verge of bankruptcy. Their total debt is closer to one billion euros.
Spain leads in the supply of wine not only to France but also to Russia. We have about one third of the volume of wine imported from the beam, and one – third of all Russian grapes, the rest from unreported statistics material. According to some expert estimates, the share of foreign wines of the beam is about 70% of the domestic wine market.
Official statistics of wine production in Russia gives the numbers of the total production, without the separation for wines produced from Russian grapes or from imported wine materials. Not taken into account and the regions where the grapes are grown.
We have some winemakers who produce wine from concentrated grape must, diluting it with water and sbragia with yeast. It’s a fake, but this wine is found in the Russian market. Rosalkogolregulirovanie estimates the market for counterfeit wines in the 30-40%.
Bulk wine is imported in large containers (tanks or tankers) of bulk materials from abroad, the Russian manufacturers is adjusted in place, you can add (or not add) of various flavors, juices, sugar, alcohol, dyes, flavor enhancers, preservatives, etc. that are allowed under Russian law. Then the wine is bottled or packets that are labeled. While some, particularly for sweet and sweet wines, it is written “made in Russia”, other specify country of origin bulk wine.
Russia is among the five largest importers of wines and wine materials in the world. According to official data, every year we import about 200 million litres of wine. This does not include smuggling and grey imports.
Last summer the Minister of agriculture of Russia Alexander Tkachev has proposed to prohibit the import of foreign wine or fold them duties, to do unprofitable import of wine materials in our country.
“Our plants are, in General, workshop for bottling wine. This is unacceptable. Today when a farmer or large cooperative begins to lay (the winery), and I recall that the payback period is 15 years, it is easier to bring a tank or a ship from South Africa or another country, just 100 or 1000 tons. Pour the wine in bottles already here, in Russia. What kind of competition. Of course, the economy will be better if one used other wine materials, bottled and sells it under the brand of Russian. This is unacceptable. Or should we raise customs duties, and multiple, and dominated the import of wine materials in Russia, or even close to this source” – leads TASS words of the Minister of agriculture Alexander Tkachev.
It supports the General Director of “Massandra” Yanina Pavlenko, on behalf of the Crimean wine-makers have proposed a ban on the import of wines to Russia from Europe. The initiative was supported by the head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksenov as benefiting the Crimea and the Russian winemaking in General.
Most Russian winemakers have opposed the ban on the import of wine materials. So, the President of the Union of winegrowers and winemakers Leonid Popovich said that currently the Ministry of agriculture proposed a ban on the importation of foreign bulk wine is not possible, because immediately lose a third of the total production (according to other estimates, much more).
A detailed analysis of the problem of Russian wine industry shows that a total ban on imports do not benefit anyone – neither producers, nor consumers, nor the state.
So, the area of Mature vineyards amount to about 100 000 ha, i.e. almost an order of magnitude less than in Europe and the USA. The expansion of the area if it will be money that will take years, as from planting the vines until the first commercial wine is at least seven to eight years. Also, if you ban foreign Balk, a deficit of wine, prices will rise and people will move on to stronger alcohol that will affect the health of the population.
In may last year the Minister of agriculture and food has offered to subsidize the construction of wineries. According to him, the devaluation of the ruble led to the fact that high quality Russian wine became more popular in the market, and subsidies only to restore the viticulture industry is not enough.
Until the summer of this year the state Duma intends to reduce legal costs for winemakers for obtaining licences for the production, storage, delivery and retail sale of wine and champagne from 800 to 65 thousand roubles. This will apply to farms and individual entrepreneurs recognized by the farmers. This issue is being discussed three years, the case has moved forward only after the government agreed to make a wine in the list of agricultural products.
Reduced registration fee to 65 thousand rubles will help to legalize “gray” market, said Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on economic policy, innovative development and entrepreneurship Viktor Zvagelsky. Small producers making so-called “garage” wine, will get good incentive, but the prices for their products is unlikely to decrease.
…As for the wine wars, Russia also participated in them, but not about the price. 10 years ago Gennady Onishchenko, the then chief sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation banned the import of Georgian and Moldovan wines, in which pesticides were found. As a result many trials the quality now supplied to Russia wines from Georgia and Moldova has improved significantly, which cannot be said about prices.
