Wine: Vinitaly Russia was a success, great potential
Moscow - The 14th edition of Vinitaly International in Russia was a success, confirming the "great potential of the Russian market", one on which Veronafiere will continue to invest in. The president of Veronafiere Spa, Maurizio Danese, who took part in the event held in Moscow, where 180 vineyards were present, or represented by 13 main importers, spoke to AGI. "Everyone approved of the way we selected visitors, focusing exclusively on B2B, with a very pragmatic approach, without consumers". The event in Moscow, organized by Vinitaly-Veronafiere, which on 21 November moved to Saint Petersburg, included tasting opportunities and special sessions held by Italian Wine Ambassadors, approved by Veronafiere, to showcase the great variety offered by Italian regional wines. "Russia represents our 6th largest export market. ? said Danese ? and if the positive trend registered during the first 8 months of 2017 (+45.6% year on year, worth 134.6 million euros) continues, Italy could see its exports go over the 200-million mark, bringing the figures back to the levels reached before the crisis of these last few years".
"If the recovery enjoyed in 2016, which registered a 4.5% increase, is anything to go by, we should be at a turning point on the Russian market", said the president of Veronafiere, promising to "continue to support the companies with these missions". "Now that we are a public limited company, with an industrial plan worth 100 million euros in investments, we will invest 30% in the development of our products and we are following exports very closely ? said Danese ? We don't exclude organizing more of this type of initiatives in Russia, outside Moscow and Saint Petersburg". Organized in collaboration with Ice-Agenzia, within the Ministry of Economy and Development's Plan for the extraordinary promotion of Made in Italy products, Vinitaly Russia will sponsor over 200 "Bazar italiano" wine bottles, on 25 and 26 November, at the Italian Embassy in Moscow. The director of Ice in Mosca, Pier Paolo Celeste, was also very pleased with the performance of Italian wines on this market: "Between January and August 2017, no less than 182,716 liters of wine were sold, the equivalent of 10,150 bottles per hour".