According to the spokesperson for Sredneuralskiy Winery PLC (part of AVS Group), the plant has been idle since the beginning of the year due to the absence of excise labels.

Starting January 1, 2006 the amendments to the State Regulation of Ethyl Alcohol, Strong Liquor and Spirit-Based Drink Production and Turnover Act came into effect, which means that all such produce must now bear a new-standard excise label (the old ones are only valid for drinks produced before January 1, 2006).

‘The new bill demands that the enterprise install some equipment and a new software program in order to place the bar code onto the labels, but our company simply cannot afford it,’ the spokesperson said to the agency’s representative. As well as many other wineries, the plant is idle at the moment, which is caused by the Federal Tax Service still not making it clear to the businesses just how the label purchase, registration, and bar coding should be carried out.

‘The Agency representatives claim they’ll have settled it by the end of January though,’ the plant spokesperson says.