Clashes with the West over Ukraine and Syria are hitting home for the Russian economy, as foreign markets for its signature spirit, vodka, fell sharply in 2015.
The Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday that exports of vodka by both value and physical volume was off 40.2 percent in 2015, as the overall economy continued to labor under international economic sanctions first imposed after Russia’s 2013 annexation of Crimea. There were double-digit percentage declines in Russian vodka sales to a number of major markets, including the United States, Germany, Latvia and Ukraine.
Britain, the largest single importer of Russia vodka by value, purchased only $23 million in 2015, down 36 percent from the year before, according to new numbers put out by the Research Center of Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets, which added that the volume of vodka sold abroad is at its lowest level since 2005.
Vadim Drobiz, director of the center, told the newspaper that politics, not changing tastes, played a big role in the drop.
“Because of the events in Ukraine and Syria, the West’s attitude to Russia deteriorated, which may be the main reason for the decline of Russian vodka sales,” he said.
Ukraine, which purchased $38.6 million of Russian vodka in 2013, bought only $3.87 million in 2015.
Hurt by sanctions and collapsing world oil and gas prices, the Russian economy overall contracted by an estimated 3.7 percent, the country’s worst performance since the global recession hit in 2009.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.