The wine sector faces significant challenges at the end of the 2023-2024 wine year, dominated by drought, which considerably affects the quantity and quality of grape production. The total grape output this year will be 20-35% lower than that of last year, and due to unusually high temperatures the harvesting campaign started 20-30 days earlier, beginning of the first days of August. These are some of the findings presented today during the 8th edition of the National Conference of the Wine Industry.
Despite these challenges, wine exports from Moldova continued to grow. In the first months of 2024, the volume of exports increased by 17% to reach 82.8 million liters, and the value of exports increased by 22%, totaling 128.7 million US dollars.
Ștefan Iamandi, director of the National Vine and Wine Office, noted that the 2023-2024 wine year was full of challenges, with a significant impact due to climate change and the increase in plantation maintenance costs. Despite these difficulties, the wine sector has shown remarkable resilience, with growing exports and a product presence in 63 international markets.
Kirk Ramer, head of USAID’s Moldova Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Project, said that the last two and a half years have brought remarkable challenges for wine exports from Moldova. “The war in Ukraine, the closure of some essential ports and the increase in logistics costs had a negative impact on the wine sector in Moldova. And climate change, in turn, comes as an additional concern. The arid weather, the droughts that are very serious and that do not stop coming back, the torrential rains, the floods, the hail, they only affect more and more and make the situation more precarious in the Moldovan winemaking sector”, noted Kirk Ramer.
Ilona Gruenewald, manager of Agriculture and Rural Development Projects within the EU Delegation to Moldova, mentioned that the agricultural sector in Moldova is facing challenges due to the dry weather, which reduced the volume of the grape harvest. However, the success of this sector is based not only on grapes, but also on innovations in winemaking and the exploration of new markets. “The EU supports the wine sector through close partnerships, technology transfer, financial assistance and investment facilitation, thus contributing to increased economic, social and environmental competitiveness and sustainability. Also, EU support is directed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, with an emphasis on EU integration and strengthening cooperation in the sector”, the official said.
