Filat confident about quality of Moldovan wine

Next week the date will be determined when Moldovan experts will go to Moscow to continue the negotiations on the wine issue, PM Vlad Filat told the national radio, adding that he was confident about the quality of the Moldovan wine. “We are in permanent contact with the wine-makers as well as with the exporters. We know what we have to do, including in the period that is the most complicated for us, the harvesting of grapes. We need to offer alternatives, to create conditions for easier exports to Ukraine, Romania or anywhere else, so that the grape growers are not affected in this period”, said Vlad Filat. The premier assured he was directly engaged and doing everything in his powers to settle the issues related to the wine exports to Russia. “The wine-makers, and not only, think that a potential meeting between me and Mr. (Vladimir) Putin will settle these issues. I consider that this meeting would be important not only for the opportunity to discuss the problem of wine exports. There is a host of other issues that we need to discuss. Until then, however, we need to make sure that all the technical aspects are clarified”, said Vlad Filat. The premier also announced that a representative of the European Investment Bank was expected to visit Chisinau next week for talks on a possible loan for the modernization of wineries. This, the premier thinks, is crucial in light of earlier understandings that the EU could double the wine export quota for Moldova.