Latvia emerged as one of the top wine suppliers to Russia, ranking among the top three and surpassing Italy in certain periods, according to UN Comtrade data cited by RIA News.
In the latest figures, Lithuania holds the lead in export volumes to Russia, reporting 485 million dollars in wine shipments and a year-over-year increase of 20.6 percent. Georgia follows with 112.1 million dollars, while Latvia appears in third place with 79.5 million dollars. Analysts note that Latvia saw an 18.5 percent rise in wine exports to Russia within the same timeframe.
Between January and August 2023, Latvia and Lithuania together imported 59.3 million dollars worth of wine from Italy, while Russia bought 72.7 million dollars of wine directly from Italy. In terms of supply volumes, Spain ranks fifth with 20.8 million dollars, followed by Poland at 18.3 million, Germany at 11.3 million, Chile at 10.4 million, Portugal at 7.7 million, and Armenia at 6.3 million.
Some market observers have suggested that shifts in price dynamics for Russian wine may reflect the retreat of cheaper European analogues from the market. One economist, Dmitry Potapenko, argued that the higher costs of Russian wine could be linked to reduced competition from inexpensive Spanish, French, and Italian alternatives and calls for easing access to budget European wines for the Russian market.
In related developments, Russian beer imports also experienced a marked increase in recent periods, signaling broader changes in consumer import patterns and supplier responses across categories.