Moldovan wines might never reach Russian store shelves – Russian official

It is unlikely for the Moldovan wines to make it to the Russian market ever, Genadi Oniscenko, chief sanitary doctor of the Russian Federation told reporters. According to the official, the matter of resuming deliveries of wines was strongly politicized by Moldovan authorities and, consequently, the talks reached a dead-end. “This proves that Moldova doesn’t recognize that its wine goods aren’t matching standards and therefore is not willing to bring its production process to normal. This makes us think that Moldovan wines will have no access to the Russian market,” underlined Oniscenko. At the same time the official specified that “provided the political twist of the issue”, the delegation of “Rospotrebnadzor”, “will most probably cancel its visit to Moldova intended for negotiations.” Since March 27, Russia barred imports of wines from Georgia and the R. Moldova, claimed to contain noxious substances. Moldovan winemakers deny these accusations and point to the political nature of the issue. To this date, Moldovan winemakers are believed to have lost approximately USD 120 mln.