The Wines of Lefkadia plant in the Krasnodar Territory has changed its owner

The family of Mikhail Nikolaev, who has been developing the Wines of Lefkadia winery in the village of Sauk-Dere in the Krasnodar Territory since 2015, decided to leave the asset. An enterprise with a capacity of up to 3 million bottles per year for more than 1 billion rubles. acquires the structure of the owner of the Myskhako winery Alexei Sidyukov. The deal will allow the buyer to strengthen its position in the segment of sparkling wines, where the availability of imports is expected to decrease due to the increase in import duties.

The family of Mikhail Nikolaev sold the Wines of Lefkadia winery in Sauk-Dere, Krasnodar Territory, its representative told Kommersant. The transaction value exceeded 1 billion rubles, the buyer was Terroiry Sauk-Dere LLC, controlled by Alexei Sidyukov, the owner of the Myskhako winery and co-owner of the Krasnodarzernoprodukt agricultural holding.

“Wines of Lefkadia” was created by Mikhail Nikolaev on the basis of a winery acquired in 2015, which has been operating since 1939. The capacity of the enterprise is up to 3 million bottles per year. At the end of 2017, the plant was modernized: the cellars were reconstructed for the production of classic sparkling wines. The state collection of wines of the USSR is stored on the territory. The Lefkadia Wines portfolio also includes the Licuria brand.

Alexei Sidyukov clarified to Kommersant that the deal includes about 300 hectares suitable for vineyards, and he also plans to discuss with the administration of the Krasnodar Territory the allocation of another 2 thousand hectares from the property of the region for laying. According to him, for the first six months after the change of ownership, the plant will continue to produce and sell wines of the Nikolaev family, and in the future the enterprise will operate under the Sauk-Dere brand. It is planned to invest about 3 billion rubles in the development of the asset. and create at least 200 jobs, said Alexei Sidyukov.

Alexander Stavtsev, head of the WineRetail information center, says that the development of a winery in Sauk-Dere could be “too ambitious a project for Mikhail Nikolaev’s family.” According to him, the company is well suited for the production of sparkling wines, and in Novorossiysk, where Myskhako is produced, the climate is too hot. The capacity of Myskhako, according to its own data, is 6 million bottles per year, the vineyard area is 362 hectares.

In July, the Russian government decided to raise import duties on wines from unfriendly countries from 12.5% ​​to 20%, but not less than $1.5 per 1 liter. As WineRetail wrote, in combination with the devaluation of the ruble and difficulties with payments, the measure will lead to an additional burden on importers and reduce the attractiveness of working primarily with wines from EU countries. In addition, the increase in duties may support sales of Russian wines by changing the promo structure, since now discounts are mainly applied to imports, analysts noted.

According to Vkusvill, the duties will also affect the availability of popular sparkling wines such as Cava and Prosecco. But while stocks in the market remain significant. Roskachestvo, which publishes the Wine Guide of Russia, estimates the total stock of wine in bottles and containers at about 300 million liters.

According to market participants, in the first half of the year, excluding the EAEU, imports of still wines in the Russian Federation increased by 43% year-on-year, to 15.5 million decaliters, and sparkling wines without champagne – by 49%, to 3.58 million decaliters. In the structure of imports of still wines, 19% for this period fell on imports from Georgia, 18.2% – from Italy, 17% – from Spain. In the supply of sparkling wines, more than 70% come from Italy, 13.7% – from France, 9.6% – from Spain.

The production of still wines and sparkling wines in Russia in January-June decreased by 3%, to 13.9 million decaliters and 4.7 million decaliters, while retail sales increased by 6.25% and 16%, to 27.2 million decaliters and 8 .8 million gave respectively, reported WineRetail.

The family of Mikhail Nikolaev does not leave the winemaking business: they still own the Lefkadia winery in the village of Moldavanskoye, Crimean District, Krasnodar Territory. As specified in the message about the sale of “Wines of Lefkadia”, the Nikolaevs decided to return to a more premium direction and focus on the production of wines under the brand “Nikolaev and Sons”, sparkling “Temelion” and “Magnatum”, as well as engage in the production of organic food.

Anatoly Kostyrev