Online wine sales should significantly improve situation in winemaking industry - Abrau-Durso owner

GELENDZHIK. Oct 21 (Interfax) - Legalizing the online sale of wine would significantly improve the situation in the winemaking sector, particularly for small-scale producers, Boris Titov, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Liaison with International Organizations in Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, and owner of Abrau-Durso Group , said.

"I hope that the President's directive will now be carried out; I trust that the decision to launch a pilot project for the online sale of Russian wine will be adopted, and that it will greatly improve the situation in the winemaking industry," Titov said on Wednesday at the plenary session of the Russian Winemaking Forum in Gelendzhik.

Titov said that online retail should assist small-scale wine producers who lack the production volume or resources required to sell their products successfully through large retail chains.

As reported, the online sale of alcohol has been prohibited in Russia since 2007, though various attempts to legalize it have been made over the years, all without success.

The Kommersant publication in June this year reported that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev had submitted a proposal to President Vladimir Putin, suggesting a return to the consideration of draft legislation that would authorize an experiment in the online sale of Russian-produced wine.