Kuban's Lefkadia winery planning to export wine to UAE and Israel in 2023
KRASNODAR. April 19 (Interfax) - Nikolaev and Sons, a major producer of wine products in Krasnodar Territory, which produces wines of the same name and under the Lefkadia brand, plans to start exporting wines to the United Arab Emirates and Israel this year, Mikhail Nikolaev, managing partner of the enterprise, told Interfax.
"Until February 2022, we supplied products to various markets; the Benelux countries, Scandinavian markets - Denmark, Sweden, Finland. There were small deliveries to Japan and one order to the USA. Now these countries are closed, and we are primarily considering exports to the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and, possibly, China. Deliveries to the UAE and Israel will begin this year, but these will be small batches," Nikolaev said.
At the end of last year, the winery's production totaled 1 million bottles. This year, the plan is to increase output slightly, he added.
"We are not increasing production volumes significantly. We have identified our competitive advantages in some segments and are increasing production accordingly. These are sparkling wines, and white wines, while in other areas, on the contrary, we are reducing volumes," Nikolaev noted.
Products are made from the winery's own grapes grown in the Crimean region of the Kuban. The company's vineyard area is currently about 220 hectares.
"This year 4 hectares will be planted, and we will start more intensive plantings in 2-3 years, when we settle on our varietal composition of grapes," he said.
This year, the company plans to invest 200 million rubles in development. The funds will be used, among other things, to modernize the bottling line and build a solar power plant. Investment in development in recent years has come to about 500 million rubles, Nikolaev said.
Currently, the winery also operates a farm for the production of soft and semi-hard cheeses, dairy products, and sausages. The products are sold mainly through retail chains.
Nikolaev is the beneficiary of the enterprise.