Programme

It is undeniable that the current market conditions stimulate the growth of the Russian winemaking industry, yet there remain several open questions that, once answered, can clarify how soon the industry will overcome its growing pains. In the coming years, it is essential not only to implement best practices but also to focus significantly on issues of competition in the alcohol market, balancing comprehensive support for the domestic market with the business interests of producers and distributors, and the interests of consumers.
During the session, leading experts will address the following questions:
● How does Russian winemaking compare to global best practices in terms of productivity and technology?
● Import substitution in Russian winemaking: its impact on cost and consumer price
● Producers and distributors: motivation to increase the share of Russian wine in their assortments
● Price/quality: How ready are Russian producers to compete with foreign producers?
● The growth potential of Russian winemaking: What to expect in the next 5 years?
● Readiness of Russian winemaking to reorient consumers towards domestic wine

Moderator
Artur Sarkisyan, President, Union of Sommeliers and Experts of Russia

Artur Sarkisyan

President, Union of Sommeliers and Experts of Russia

Panellists
Anatoly Korneev, Co-founder, Vice President, Simple Group
Alexey Plotnikov, Executive Director of the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia
Maxim Protasov, Head, Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo)
Dmitry Ter-Stepanov, Deputy General Director, Center for Biometric Technologies
Ernest Khachaturian, Chairman of the board of directors, Luding Group
Oleg Khuzin, co-owner of Organika Vodka, Commercial Director, Alma Valley

Anatoly Korneev

Co-founder, Vice President, Simple Group

Сo-founder, and Vice President of Simple Group. Co-founder and teacher at Enotria Wine School, who also inspired the creation of the Simple Wine News book series. Author of books and articles on wine and a film producer.

Co-founder of Simple Wine News, a professional wine magazine, who also wrote articles for this magazine. Author of articles on wine and columnist in various magazines, including Forbes, GQ, and Aeroflot.

Author of several books: “Wines of Italy: The Second Italian Renaissance” (2001) and “Piedmont: Wines of Italy” (2014).

Executive Director of the Russian Association of Sommeliers (RAS) since its foundation in 1999.

Alexey Plotnikov

Executive Director of the Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers of Russia

Maxim Protasov

Head, Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo)

Born: 1972 in Moscow. Graduated from the Economics Faculty of Moscow State University and completed postgraduate research at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 1999 through 2005: member of the Supervisory Council of the National Securities Market Association, of the expert council of the Financial Markets Committee under the State Duma of the Russian Federation. 2011 through 2015: held the position of Chairman of the Management Board of the National Association of Producers and Suppliers of Foodstuffs Rusprodsoyuz. June 2015: appointed head of the Autonomous Non-commercial Organization Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo), set up by Russian Government Directive. Is an active participant in many expert organisations, in particular Open Government, Expert Council of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, working group of the Public Council of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation on foodstuff quality, member of the Commission for Supervising the Code of Fair Practices. Married with three children.

Dmitry Ter-Stepanov

Deputy General Director, Center for Biometric Technologies

Ernest Khachaturian

Chairman of the board of directors, Luding Group

Oleg Khuzin

co-owner of Organika Vodka, Commercial Director, Alma Valley