The Association of Bulgarian Wine Producers demands that the Bulgarian government should make an effort in order for Bulgaria to export wine duty-free to Russia.

The meeting between Bulgarian and Russian Prime Ministers Boyko Borisov and Vladimir Putin on November 13 is a good opportunity to discuss the possibility of Bulgarian wine being exported duty-free to Russia, Rositsa Kyuchukova, Head of the Association of Bulgarian Wine Producers, stated.

Kyuchukova mentioned that Serbia already has a duty-free wine export quota in Russia.

The market share of Bulgarian wine in Russia is 5% for the first 9 months of 2010, which is a 4% drop year on year.

Even if duty-free wine export to Russia is to materialize, the Bulgarian wine producers stated they want fair prices. According to them, export prices for Bulgarian wine generally do not cover the production costs. The export prices should not drop below EUR 0.85 per bottle, representatives of the wine producers said.

Recently, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov commented on the issue of Bulgarian export to Russia, stating that Bulgaria exported massive amounts of wine, foods and other light industry goods to Russia in the past and that it is high time to restore Bulgaria's positions on the Russian market.

Currently, Bulgaria has a negative trade balance with Russia, estimated at about BGN 1 B.