Moldova's winemakers look west after Russian import ban
- 10 years ago
The battle for influence over former Soviet states is being played out not just in central Kyev, but also in the vineyards of Moldova with major financial consequences.
Russia has again banned imports of Moldovan wine saying it has found impurities – as it did in 2006 – but the effect this time around is not so dramatic, according to the country’s biggest producer, Vinaria Purcari
The company’s chief executive, Victor Bostan, said it was much worse then: “In 2006 I lost more than $10 million because of the embargo. In 2013 I lost around $1 million.”
After the 2006 embargo his company changed its export strategy.
Before 2006, 80 percent of their wine went to Russia; when the latest ban came into effect last September it was only 20 percent.
Increasingly Moldovan wine is heading not east but west, to Europe which has relaxed import restrictions.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos told euronews: “The European Union has fully opened up its market to Moldovan wine, there a
Russia has again banned imports of Moldovan wine saying it has found impurities – as it did in 2006 – but the effect this time around is not so dramatic, according to the country’s biggest producer, Vinaria Purcari
The company’s chief executive, Victor Bostan, said it was much worse then: “In 2006 I lost more than $10 million because of the embargo. In 2013 I lost around $1 million.”
After the 2006 embargo his company changed its export strategy.
Before 2006, 80 percent of their wine went to Russia; when the latest ban came into effect last September it was only 20 percent.
Increasingly Moldovan wine is heading not east but west, to Europe which has relaxed import restrictions.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos told euronews: “The European Union has fully opened up its market to Moldovan wine, there a