Chateau Chizay Winemaking Company LLC (Berehove, Zakarpattia region) plans to start producing sparkling wine, brandy and cognacs.
Investments in the launch of the last two products will amount to about $ 2 million, Hennadiy Hutman, the owner and founder of Chateau Chizay, said.
“We are planning to produce brandy and cognac. Now we are designing an alcohol storage facility for 63,000 dal. This will be a completely new line and a new direction in Chateau Chizay. Construction is planned at our primary wine-making plant, where grapes are processed. We also plan to produce sparkling wine that is another new direction for us. The target price of the project for brandy and cognac is approximately $ 2 million,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Under favorable conditions, the company plans to launch the production of brandy and cognac in January-February, sparkling wine in 2021.
Answering the question about the impact of the pandemic on the sales of Chateau Chizay wines, the owner of the company noted that sales fell by 50% in the spring 2020 compared to the spring 2019.
“Now the market is reviving, but the uncertainty of the situation with the coronavirus is scary. If in the first months of the pandemic the fall was 50-55%, then since August there has been an increase, now there will be a decline again,” Hutman said.
Despite COVID-19, the winemaking company continued to open up new markets for its products, so in 2020 Chateau Chizay began delivery to Britain, Denmark, and signed a delivery contract with Japan, Norway and Mexico.
“Now we are preparing a small delivery, but it is still very interesting, to one of the wine-making regions, Hungary. We have been delivering our wines to the United States, Canada, Israel, and Australia for several years. This year we have shipped 50,000 liters of wine to Kyrgyzstan, this is a good and interesting market,” the founder of the company mentioned
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) has announced the holding of auctions for the privatization of the Marylivsky and Kozliv distilleries and the storage of alcohol belonged to the state-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt (both in Ternopil region).
According to a statement on the SPF website, the privatization auction of the Marylivsky distillery will take place on November 12, 2020.
The starting price of the facility is UAH 54.7 million.
The auction for the privatization of the Kozliv distillery will take place on November 13, 2020.
The starting price of the facility is UAH 37.6 million.
State-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt intends to sell 440,600 decaliters of alcohol in January 2020 against 255,170 decaliters in the same period in 2019 and associates this with the results of fight against production of counterfeit alcohol.
“These figures indicate not the fact that we began to produce or consume more alcohol in the country, but the fight against the shadow turnover of alcohol. The state focused on the elimination of counterfeit alcohol production schemes that previously existed at the plants of the enterprise. We are closely monitoring the cost of alcohol and the correct purchase of raw materials. And if we see any violations, we immediately change the heads of the plants. And this is already yielding results,” acting head of Ukrspyrt Serhiy Bleskun said.
According to Ukrspyrt, in January 2020 ten factories of the state-owned enterprise will work, while seven were operating in the same period last year.
In addition, the enterprise noted that in November-December 2019 the heads of six plants were changed, and video surveillance cameras with online broadcasting were installed at six plants.
Now the company is being prepared for transfer to the State Property Fund.
As reported, the law on the abolition of state monopoly on alcohol production from July 1, 2020, supported by the Verkhovna Rada on December 3, was signed by the president of Ukraine at the end of December 2019.
The Cabinet of Ministers has abolished licensing for imports and exports of ethyl, cognac and fruit alcohol, ethyl rectified grape and fruit spirit, alcoholic drinks and tobacco products.
The decision was made at a government meeting on July 24 with the subsequent coordination with Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.
The market of imported alcohol in Ukraine in 2019 will grow by 8-10%, Bayadera Group, one of the largest alcohol companies in the Ukrainian market, predicts.
“According to experts, the imported alcohol market in 2019 will grow by 8-10%. Significant development is expected in the segment of foreign wines, while premium and luxury brands will have a steady increase of 2-3%,” the press service of Bayadera Group reported.
According to Bayadera Group, the structure of the import market in Ukraine has changed towards still wines (25%) and whiskey (20%). Sparkling wine and champagne (15% each) rank third among imported alcohol, brandy and cognac (about 12%) rank fourth, while rum (10%) is fifth.
According to the report, Bayadera Group imports almost all categories of alcohol, sales of imported products in 2018 increased by 17%. The main imports are Italian, French, Spanish, Chilean and German wines. The company intends in 2019 to focus on manufacturers, with which it already works, it does not plan to bring new large brands to the market.
Bayadera Group, a large alcohol producing holding in the Ukrainian market, this year seeks to invest UAH 80-100 million in planting new vineyards and modernization of plants. “In 2019, we are planning to invest UAH 80-100 million, first of all, in vineyards and modernization of plants. This will improve the quality, reduce the cost of production and increase efficiency,” Director General of Bayadera Group Anatoliy Korchynsky said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
In particular, in 2019 the group intends to plant about 200 hectares in Mykolaiv region.
According to the director general, Bayadera Group is considering the transition from the wine cork to the screw cap.
“Considering the global problem with cork, everyone will come to this in the next few years. In Europe this is already a reality, but in Ukraine the buyer still does not understand it. However, we are already preparing for the changeover of production,” Korchynsky said.
The group also conducts several experiments in terms of sales performance.
“If they are successful, this will also require certain investments,” Korchynsky said.
In 2018, Bayadera Group invested about UAH 80 million: some UAH 35 million in the agricultural sector, UAH 20 million – in plants, and near UAH 25 million – in distribution. In general, the alcohol holding has several areas of investment: agriculture, modernization and renewal of production facilities, as well as distribution.
Bayadera Group was established in 1991. Its owners are Natalia Bondareva and Sviatoslav Nechytailo. The company owns such assets in the alcohol industry as distribution companies and alcohol production facilities in Ukraine and Belarus. It produces wine, vermouth and cognac and is the exclusive importer of international alcohol brands in Ukraine.
The main trademarks are Persha Gildiya, Kozatska Rada, Hlibny Dar, Koblevo, Marengo, and others.
