State support for viticulture, winemaking in Russia may fall 7.7% in 2026, 5.2% for vegetable growing

MOSCOW. Sept 30 (Interfax) - Subsidies for viticulture and winemaking in Russia may decrease 7.7% and 5.2% for vegetable and potato growing in 2026.

As reported in the explanatory note to the draft federal budget for the upcoming three-year period, 3.963 billion rubles are allocated for the Stimulating the Development of Viticulture and Winemaking federal project in 2026, compared to 4.294 billion rubles in 2025.

For 2027-2028, it is proposed that funding be reduced to 2.903 billion rubles annually.

State support for the Development of the Vegetable and Potato Growing Sectors federal project will also be reduced. A total of 3.5 billion rubles are allocated annually for 2026-2028, compared to 3.692 billion rubles in 2025.

As the Agriculture Ministry previously reported, currently over 60% of wines on store shelves and in restaurants are domestically produced. Production of this item is also growing. The output of sparkling wines increased 15.8% year-on-year in 7M to 8.7 million decaliters, while still wines production rose 12.6% to 20.9 million decaliters.

Vineyard areas cover more than 110,000 hectares, of which 86,400 ha are of fruit-bearing age. This year, it is planned that approximately 6,000 ha of new vineyards will be established.

According to preliminary estimates, the total grape harvest in Russia in 2025 will be around 900,000 tonnes. In 2024, 908,000 tonnes were harvested, which was the highest figure in contemporary Russian history (882,000 tonnes in 2023).

According to the Agriculture Ministry's forecast, the potato harvest in the organized sector this year may amount to 7.6 million tonnes, compared to 7.3 million tonnes last year. The most productive year was 2023, at 8.6 million tonnes.