According to a recent report in The Moscow Times, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has revealed his ambition to boost Russia’s winemaking powers by almost doubling the size of its vineyards by the year 2020.

At its peak, Russia’s vineyards totalled 200,000 hectares in the early 1980s, falling to just 90,000 hectares today. However, the Prime Minister has now set out the government’s plan to increase the total size of Russia’s vineyards to 140,000 in the next five years, potentially returning it to the winemaking days enjoyed by the former Soviet Union.

Speaking at a winery in Russia’s wine-producing region of Krasnodar, Medvedev said: “There are independent laws on this subject in the majority of countries; maybe it makes sense for us to go the way of the French and most grape and wine producers in general.”

Of the wine consumed in Russia last year, 40 per cent was imported with Russian grape production falling to 325,000 tons, 40 per cent of what it was in the 1980s, with the trade battling continued difficulties for the last 25 years.

Last year, €6.4 million was designated to support the industry in 2014 after the government officially recognised wine as an agricultural product, making it eligible for state subsidies.