Russia's first whisky distillate plant will be built in the Kaliningrad region. The corresponding project was presented by Igor Kudryavtsev, General Director of the Alliance-1892 distillery, at a meeting of the investment council of the regional government. Kudryavtsev's initiative received the support of Governor Nikolai Tsukanov, reports "Kaliningrad.ru".

According to the author of the project, consumption of whiskey in the Russian Federation is not declining, despite the problems in the Russian economy. He believes that the new product is capable of covering up to 35% of the Russian demand and will be exported to India, China, Africa and Latin America. As RBC notes, the investment in the project will amount to €13m.

"The project offers a domestically produced product that will be comparable in all parameters with the world's best models and provides a very strong export potential, creating alternative enterprises under the import substitution policy. The project will work on domestic raw materials, and by definition it becomes very competitive," says Igor Kudryavtsev.

The plant is going to produce high-quality malt distillates using classical technology. The distillate is the basis for whisky. A number of foreign companies have expressed their desire to become partners in the project, added Kudryavtsev. He notes that the plant will bring more than 3.5 billion rubles in tax payments to the treasury in five years. "Alliance-1892 is currently producing cognacs (brands "Old Koenigsberg", "Trofeiny").

The authorities promise to help Kudryavtsev with obtaining a land plot and creating infrastructure. The governor of the Kaliningrad region has asked the Ministry of Economy for "full assistance". The construction may take about two years.

On July 1, 2015, GOST came into force, which legalizes the production of any distilled drinks from grain. This makes it possible to produce whisky in Russia. Before that Russia had only GOSTs for production of distillates from grapes - cognacs and brandy.