The surge in energy prices has created an unsustainable situation for Italian companies in the wine and spirits sector. In addition to energy bills that have quadrupled in many cases, companies in the sector have to cope with the increase in the cost of all raw materials and the shortage of a fundamental element: glass for bottles. In this scenario, the autumn promises to be dramatic, exacerbated by the lack of interlocutors in politics, between a government in provisional exercise and parties engaged in the electoral challenge. “In a moment of emergency and in the middle of the electoral campaign, companies feel more and more alone. We don’t know who to talk to,” Micaela Pallini, president of Federvini, the federation of producers of wines, liqueurs and vinegars, told Adnkronos. For companies in the sector, she explains, “the situation is very tense”. The difficulties of the beginning of the year, between scarcity of raw materials and rising costs, were exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The flare-up in energy prices affects the entire supply chain, from logistics to production and refrigeration. Commodities such as alcohol and sugar have seen surges of up to 40%. But the real problem is the glass. “For us it is fundamental – says Pallini – we have had a barrage of increases from producers and in September we expect increases of the order of 25%, to reach a 50% increase in the price of bottles”. But in addition to prices, there is a serious shortage of the product. “We can’t find the bottles, the difficulty now is finding the glass”. At a European level, emphasizes the president of Federvini, “some production sites have failed, in Ukraine there were some very important glass factories that are still. The lack of production capacity combined with the increase in costs and the growth in demand for wines and liquori has created a spiral from which we cannot escape. There are no alternative sources to glass “. And in Italy the situation is even more dramatic for wine and spirits producers, where glass factories suffer more than foreign competitors from the surge in energy. “It is a time of great difficulty and we are all very worried. In September many of us are on the ground, with great difficulties in planning production and orders”, which there are. The most solid companies, continues the president of Federvini, “perhaps they can think for a period of absorbing part of the costs, but we are all preparing to pass a second price increase downstream of the production chain. We cannot do otherwise, but this will have an impact on domestic consumption and exports “. All in the middle of the electoral campaign and pending the formation of the new government. “We are really worried. We are facing a nebulous political situation, we don’t even know who to confront for answers”. The companies in the wine, spirits and vinegars sectors ask for “clearer perspectives. We need to understand if at the energy level it is possible to have support for companies and families, despite poor public accounts. For example, the benefits of Draghi government on the excise duties on fuels we have seen them “, concludes Pallini.