Moldova to export grapes and wine to Ukraine and Belarus

Moldova will soon start exporting grapes and wine to Ukraine and Belarus. The export conditions will be disused at a meeting of the Prime Ministers of the two states in the near future. Such an agreement was reached by Moldova’s Acting President Mihai Ghimpu, the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko and the President of Belarus Alexandr Lukashenko at a meeting on the sidelines of the CIS summit held in Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The liberalization of the economy and markets is the best credit. A loan must be paid back, but the investment is for a long term,” Mihai Ghimpu told a news conference on October 10. Mihai Ghimpu also said that discussions on a possible decrease in the purchase price of power between the Moldovan and Ukrainian Premiers are also likely. Presently, Moldova purchases power from the Cuchurgan power plant at a higher price. “I apologized to Victor Yushchenko for the policy pursued by the previous administration,” Ghimpu said. Mihai Ghimpu also said that at the meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev they discussed the promised loan of US$500 million, which could be smaller than planned, as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Igor Shuvalov said. “This loan is needed to cover the budget deficit of about 8 billion lei. We are yet to discuss the lending conditions,” Ghimpu stressed. Russia promised that the first tranche of the loan of US$150 million would be disbursed by this yearend.