Excise tax on wine is killing Plantations

In order for the winner to stay in power, he was forced to offer something! And he offered. It is the Fiscal Strategy and Reconstruction of the Government. Both cause chills among a significant part of the critical-thinking population.

Quote: "Still wines", which represent an alcoholic drink whose use has a negative externality, i.e. harm to health. For the health of the population, superficiality in the work of such an important document and failure to consider the consequences are more harmful.

Let's pay attention to a detail: the excise tax on wine, which was probably expected to go unnoticed because a big move like the "reform" of the pension system will attract the majority of attention. Montenegro has 313 registered grape producers and 88 winemakers and one large one - Plantation. Percentage-wise, Plantations account for over 95% of the number of vines, wine production and turnover. Small winegrowers will manage by moving a good part of the traffic to the gray zone. Therefore, this measure applies primarily to Plantations.

Why is the State endangering Plantations like this, instead of helping them. It's not the first time, but now something bigger is rolling over the hill. When the wine law was passed twenty years ago, an excise tax on brandy was introduced. The most profitable product of Plantaža rakija, the "Thirteenth of July" has increased significantly in price and sales have fallen. An area has opened for the sale of brandy without excise duty. Grapes started to be imported from Macedonia by trucks. Everyone started producing - baking brandy, kaffirs for the home, etc. The state did not get what the proponent promised, on the contrary. It was said and written in the press that all this was lobbied in favor of Nexan from Nikšić. That was the period of the so-called "private" state. But why threaten, perhaps even destroy, the only company of European importance and the largest exporter of agricultural products if it is no longer a "private" state. What is the interest now? Maybe because Plantaže is not just an agricultural producer.

Plantations are an example of how Montenegro can be self-sustaining. To successfully develop its economy with its resources: inherited biological treasure - autochthonous Montenegrin vines, stony soil and southern sun. To the memory of our experts and scientists and hardworking workers. That it exports its wines and that it has an autochthonous brand that many neighboring countries do not have. Who doesn't like that we can be self-sustaining and successful. What forces in the environment and forces in the country. What else does Plantaže have, apart from being a model of success for Montenegro. The land - several thousand hectares of vineyards and orchards, can be turned into urban construction land. In the short term, it is more profitable for "investors" than slow, serious work in agriculture. It is an attack on the area which is the biggest Montenegrin resource. Especially since in this kind of geopolitical struggle, the Mediterranean country on the Adriatic has an inestimable importance. Because there is drinking water under the vineyard.

If we are not aware of the importance of drinking water today, there are those who are. Because it was developed there, the only remaining Montenegrin brand VRANAC. The former world-famous Sveti Stefan brand was successfully destroyed by the previous government. As well as a number of others. The celebrated Vranac remained. With one single flaw…..which is from Montenegro. If we drown the Plantations, with excise taxes on wine, after it was allowed to import even worse and more expensive wines. If grapes are imported and anyone can do what they want. If domestic production is not respected and domestic production is bought, then... Someone will conclude that Plantations should be sold and privatized because they are unsustainable, unprofitable. That's how this huge resource, potential can be lost, like shipping companies, factories...

Even in the period when Plantaž's operations began to falter in 2015, the development part of this large company worked on research into the autochthonous vines of Montenegro, with one of the world's leading institutes, from Spain. In addition to the well-known ones in Montenegro, 51 more were investigated and found. a variety of vines that do not exist anywhere in the world. They created a national collection of vines and preserved it for future generations. They thus provided the future of the development of viticulture in Montenegro, for at least the next 150 years, and the resources for the fight against climate change. Research on the origin of Kratosija has also been launched, which will be published by the end of the year.

Preliminary reports indicate that Kratošija is originally from Montenegro. As well as the oldest known written mention of Kratošija in the Statute of Budva six years ago in Article 261. And it is about a vine called zinfandel, one of the most popular vines, or wine, in America. That finding should be global news and it is the story of another pearl of Montenegro that can make it even more attractive to tourists, real business people, who can contribute to development and well-being in Montenegro with their investments. And now, with an excise tax on wine, viticulture should be stifled, and the millennial tradition of growing vines should be left to oblivion. On the land under the vineyards, plant solitaires, abandon the national collection of autochthonous vines until it itself dies out. Abandon the development of viticulture while in the surrounding area huge funds are being invested in viticulture, and wine culture is conquering the world, even the Far East and regions that did not know about vines and wine.

What should be done now? Forget the excise tax on wine. Do not make the arduous work of viticulture difficult. Prescribe appropriate measures for the import of wine and grapes. Popularize domestic production and consumption based on autochthonous assortment and quality control. Such moves, which threaten Plantaže and other significant companies and institutions, are taken by those who do not delve into the problems and therefore do not know. Who follow the trends, but do not understand the essence. Anyone who promises salaries and pensions that are not the product of adequate economic results is doing enormous damage. Even if it's well-intentioned. Unfortunately, there are also those who cause damage knowingly, in order to show the world that we are a dysfunctional state and an unreliable society.

The author is a winegrower and a member of the editorial staff of Stega - Strategies for European and Civic Montenegro