Bottled Water, Alcoholic Beverages Suffer Sales Drop after Russian Ban

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YEREVAN (Public Radio of Armenia/Panorama.am) — Russia’s state product labeling system, “Chestny Znak”, has suspended the sale of more than 70,000 bottles of drinking water and soft drinks imported from Armenia following an order by the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor).

According to the Center for Research in Perspective Technologies (CRPT), the operator of the “Chestny Znak” system, the measure was introduced to “prevent possible harm to the life and health of Russian citizens” after authorities identified violations of mandatory product requirements.

The restrictions apply to specific production batches of BJNI medicinal table mineral water produced by RRR Mineral Water Plant CJSC (Armenia), “Prosto Azbuka” natural drinking water, including children’s water, produced by WATERLOCK LLC (Armenia), and DARBAS-brand “Mojito” carbonated soft drink produced by Arsen ev Nerses LLC (Armenia).

The CRPT stressed that the suspension affects only products manufactured on specific dates and does not apply to the companies’ other products.

“The sale of the batches identified by Rospotrebnadzor is currently prohibited in retail stores and online sales channels until all necessary inspections are completed,” the CRPT said.

According to CRPT Deputy Director General Revaz Yusupov, the system has prevented the sale of 48 million bottles of drinking water that failed to meet expiration date or other mandatory requirements since the beginning of 2026.

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It is not just bottled water sales that are suffering. Retail sales of Armenian brandy and wine in Russia fell sharply in the first six months of 2026, outpacing declines in the wider alcohol market, industry data showed, Kommersant reported.

Sales of Armenian brandy dropped by 12.2 percent year-on-year to 1.37 million decalitres between January and June, reducing Armenia’s share of Russia’s brandy market to 20 percent, down by 1.7 percentage points. Market participants linked the fall to a suspension by consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor of products from three Armenian producers, as well as distributors cutting back supplies as a precaution.

Wine sales from Armenia fell by 11.8 percent to 239,650 decalitres in the same period, with June alone seeing an 18.9% decline to 33,800 decalitres. Armenia’s share of Russia’s still wine market remains below 1%.

 

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