Wine monopoly means the establishment of the exclusive right of the state or individuals to produce and sell alcoholic liquors. For the first time in Russia, the state monopoly on wine production was instituted by Ivan III of Russia in 1474. Under Ivan the Terrible, state-run drinking houses - taverns - appeared. The first monopoly lasted until 1533.
The second state monopoly on the production of wine and other alcohol was introduced in 1652 under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The measure was in force until 1681.
In 1696, Peter I established the third state monopoly. In 1716, he introduced freedom of distillation in Russia by imposing a distillery duty on producers. Gradually the nobility's monopoly on distillation was established.
Under Catherine II, a well structured system of wine farming was formed. It was regulated by the Statute on Distillery (1765), according to which only noblemen were allowed to distil wine. In 1861, the Regulations on Drinking Taxes eliminated the farming system.
The fourth monopoly was introduced on the initiative of the Minister of Finance S. Witte in 1894. During the USSR years, the monopoly on alcohol sales existed since January of 1924. Due to M. Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign in 1985, moonshining began to advance in the country.
Currently, the regulation functions in this field in Russia are handled by the Federal Service for the Control of Alcohol and Tobacco Markets (Rosalkogoltabakkontrol).
The postage stamp provides an image of a double-headed eagle from the seal of Ivan III, who established the first wine monopoly. The margins of the souvenir sheet feature a fragment of drawing The Moscow Kremlin under Ivan III by A. Vasnetsov, a fragment of the Statute on Distillery of 1765 adopted under Catherine II, as well as a collage of images symbolizing wine production in Russia.
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