Gin and tonic cocktail makers have stopped producing the drink due to rising excise duties.

As Shopper’s discovered, the new principle for calculating excise duties on drinks with an alcohol content of up to 18%, which came into force on May 1, made the production of some drinks unprofitable.

Thus, the Moscow Ochakovo plant has not produced low-alcohol cocktails since May 1. According to the general director of the company, Yuri Antonov, previously manufactured products are already sold out.

The Bravo Premium plant, which is part of the Rust group of companies (brands Amore, Bravo, Relax, Sunny Breeze), also stopped producing cocktails. The manufacturer has secured the supply in advance, the company reported.

Megapack is making the same decision (it produces drinks under the brands Hooch, Manchester, Black Russian). In May, a small batch was produced, and in June, production of low-alcohol drinks was stopped. The company has also prepared stocks, but they will not last more than three months.

The new principle for calculating excise taxes applies to drinks with an alcohol content of up to 18%. If earlier it was calculated based on the price per liter of anhydrous alcohol (514 rubles), now it is 141 rubles per liter of finished product. Thus, the excise tax on a half-liter can/bottle increased from 15 to 23 rubles to 70.5 rubles. In low-alcohol drinks, the alcohol content is up to 9%.

According to Yuri Antonov, maintaining production with current excise taxes would lead to an increase in the price of a 0.45 ruble can of gin and tonic from 110 to 200 rubles. At these prices, it will be more profitable for the consumer to buy a bottle of vodka, says the general director of Ochakovo.

Megapack CEO Andrei Bogachev agrees. According to him, the new excise taxes are killing off this category of alcoholic beverages.

“You can buy vodka, juice and/or other ingredients and make a cocktail at home for a fraction of the cost of a canned cocktail, but it’s just a matter of quality control of all the ingredients,” says Bogachev.

The Russian alcohol market is undergoing changes that affect both the production of domestic products and the import of foreign products. The day before it became known that the authorities are discussing another increase in import duties for wines from “hostile” countries. In 2023, the duty was raised from 12.5% ​​to 20% and is now being considered for an increase to 25%.