Armenia’s wine and brandy outputs growing as winemakers continues working with losses
08.07.2016,
14:55
Armenia’s wine and brandy outputs and exports are growing , but winemakers continues working with losses, Avag Harutyunyan, the chairman of the Armenian Association of Winemakers, told journalists on Friday.
YEREVAN, July 8. /ARKA/. Armenia’s wine and brandy outputs and exports are growing , but winemakers continues working with losses, Avag Harutyunyan, the chairman of the Armenian Association of Winemakers, told journalists on Friday.
In his words, negative impacts from devaluation of the Russia ruble continue.
“Although brandy output grew about 56% in Jan-May 2016, compared with the same period of 2015 and wine output grew 11%, prices are so low that winemakers sell their products with losses just not to lose their niche at the Russian market,” he said.
Answering ARKA News Agency’s question related to export, Harutyunyan said that a 50% growth was recorded on brandy.
He said Armenia also successfully re-export spirits and presumed that brandy owed 80% of its 50-percent growth to re-export. Re-export here means that import of brandy spirits and export of finals products.
Speaking about export of grapes, he said that Russian and Eurasian Economic Union markets are not attractive to Armenia, since cost prices of Armenian products are high.
Russia is now intensively supporting local producers, he said, and it means that cheap Armenian wine and brandy will be not demanded at Russia’s market.
Harutyunyan thinks that Armenia should occupy its own niche in the high-price segment at spirits market.
“Grape crops are expected to be as rich this year as before thanks to the vines planted in the last five years have already started bearing grapes, but it will not be in demand,” he said explaining that processing companies have spent their last financial resources to have their procurement debts repaid and that they have no money to purchase as much raw materials as they purchased before.
According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia’s brandy output grew 56.4% in Jan-May 2016, compared with the same period a year earlier, to 6,851,900 liters.
Over the first five months of this year, some 2,490,800 liters of wine were produced in the country (11.1% year-on-year growth), 730,700 liters of whiskey (2.5-time growth) and 155,200 liters of champagne (8.5% growth).
Vodka and beer outputs fell instead – by 13% to 3,391,100 liters and 11.8% to 6,264,700 liters respectively. --0----
In his words, negative impacts from devaluation of the Russia ruble continue.
“Although brandy output grew about 56% in Jan-May 2016, compared with the same period of 2015 and wine output grew 11%, prices are so low that winemakers sell their products with losses just not to lose their niche at the Russian market,” he said.
Answering ARKA News Agency’s question related to export, Harutyunyan said that a 50% growth was recorded on brandy.
He said Armenia also successfully re-export spirits and presumed that brandy owed 80% of its 50-percent growth to re-export. Re-export here means that import of brandy spirits and export of finals products.
Speaking about export of grapes, he said that Russian and Eurasian Economic Union markets are not attractive to Armenia, since cost prices of Armenian products are high.
Russia is now intensively supporting local producers, he said, and it means that cheap Armenian wine and brandy will be not demanded at Russia’s market.
Harutyunyan thinks that Armenia should occupy its own niche in the high-price segment at spirits market.
“Grape crops are expected to be as rich this year as before thanks to the vines planted in the last five years have already started bearing grapes, but it will not be in demand,” he said explaining that processing companies have spent their last financial resources to have their procurement debts repaid and that they have no money to purchase as much raw materials as they purchased before.
According to the National Statistical Service, Armenia’s brandy output grew 56.4% in Jan-May 2016, compared with the same period a year earlier, to 6,851,900 liters.
Over the first five months of this year, some 2,490,800 liters of wine were produced in the country (11.1% year-on-year growth), 730,700 liters of whiskey (2.5-time growth) and 155,200 liters of champagne (8.5% growth).
Vodka and beer outputs fell instead – by 13% to 3,391,100 liters and 11.8% to 6,264,700 liters respectively. --0----
