Spotlight: Greek winemakers join anti-austerity protests over taxation

For the first time in decades, Greek winemakers joined a wave of anti-austerity protests staged by trade unions.

As of Jan. 1, 2016, Greek winemakers have to pay an extra tax of 20 euro cents (22 U.S. cents) per liter on the wine they sell, as part of the new round of tax hikes imposed by the government under bailout commitments.

Wineries nationwide remained closed since Monday, and more mobilizations are scheduled for coming days as wine sector organizations have appealed to the Council of State for the abolition of the new tax.

Greece's wine industry, which dates back to 6,500 years, is on the verge of suffocation as a result of the new wine sales tax, representatives of the market told Xinhua.

"This new tax increase is like a bomb. It drastically affects the competitiveness of Greek wines in the market," said Yannis Vogiatzis, president of the National Interprofessional Organization of Vine and Wine.

"Like other natural and agricultural products, wine should be protected," Vogiatzis said, adding that the map of wine industry is going to change with many producers going bust.

No other EU member state that produces wine has imposed taxes on wine;Only member states that do not produce wine have done so, the federation's Chairman Yorgos Skouras said.

Since the debt crisis erupted in 2009 and Greek citizens' purchasing power plummeted, Greek winemakers had to keep their prices low, the sectors representatives told Xinhua.

"Today wine producers can no longer absorb the tax nor the management costs," Vogiatzis said.

The government expects to bring in about 55 million euros (60 million dollars) from the domestic consumption of wine over the course of this year.

"The government will collect much less, while the black economy will thrive. Winemakers will be forced to sell illegally," Vogiatzis warned.

Despite the fact that the tax does not apply to Greek wine exports, unions claim that export will be affected as well. They will have to allocate the costs across all of their products.

In recent years, part of Greece's strategy for rural development was to boost the competitiveness of the Greek wine market and promote exports of quality wine.

"The industry has undergone tremendous improvements with serious investments in modern winemaking technology," Vogiatzis said.

"The wine sector could further contribute to the national economy, but with this measure 700 wineries with over 20,000 employees across Greece are led to a dead end," Vogiatzis said.

Greece is among the top 10 wine producers of the European Union, with over 300 indigenous varieties. According to the figures of the last five years, wine exports had risen 8 percent annually on average. Endi