Sales of champagne in Russia before the New Year fell by a third

In the first three weeks of the last month of the year, sparkling wine was sold for 214 million rubles, while the number of those buying champagne was 60% lower than a year earlier.

Despite the drop in champagne sales, the turnover of other alcoholic beverages continued to grow in December. In three weeks of the month, Russians purchased 64% more alcoholic beverages than a year earlier. The number of those who buy alcohol and the frequency of purchases have grown by one and a half times, according to a study by the operator of fiscal data "First OFD".

"It is still difficult to say whether citizens have postponed the purchase of the traditionally New Year's drink until the last week of December, or have abandoned it altogether in favor of other alcoholic beverages", - commented Alexey Kirichek, head of VTB's acquiring department.

Earlier it was noted that Russians plan to increase spending on the New Year's table by a quarter this year. According to Aleksey Zubets, director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the Financial University under the Russian government, the Russians decided to arrange a "feast during the plague" in order to "get rid of the emotional burden" of the outgoing year and express the hope that next year will be better than the outgoing one.