The Moldovan wine needs investments in order to be promoted. The people must discover them and it is now the most opportune moment given this wave of emotional support coming from all over Europe, said European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloş, who is paying a visit to Moldova at the invitation of Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. The officials visited the wine company ASCONI based in Puhoi village of Ialoveni district, IPN reports, quoting a communiqué from the Government.

Iurie Leanca said that in order to gain access and a good name on the European market, Moldova must focus on the competitiveness of its products. “The access to the European market means more investments and, respectively, higher budget revenues. I hope we will be able to launch several pilot-programs next year, together with Dacian Ciolos, within the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD),” said Iurie Leanca

ASCONI director Anatol Sarbu said the wines are intended for export. “Immediately after the embargo of 2006, we decided to work exclusively with the markets of the EU, China and now Africa. It was a lesson that we learned and now we have good results,” he stated.

The officials visited the company’s laboratories, the grape processing section and the bottling section. The company produces annually about 4-5 million bottles of wine that are exported to the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Israel, China, Lebanon, Nigeria and other countries.