PLDM commits to change policy of wine-making sector

The Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) commits, if it gets in power, to stop the interference of politics into the work of the wine-making branch, to reduce taxes, to restructure the bank credits of the companies and to unlock the export of wine in bulk. These and other actions included in the ruling program of the party were presented on Thursday, March 26, at a news conference at which the PLDM leaders criticized the politics of the Communist governance in this area, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The PLDM finds that Voronin’s regime has ruined the economy of the country in those 8 years of rule. Viticulture and wine-making , which were the basis of the agri-industrial sector, were destroyed. The lack of a coherent development strategy of this branch, the unjustified interference of the state structures into the activity of the companies, the constant growth of taxes, excises and other forms of extorting money from producers, the direct and illegal interference of Voronin’s clans into negotiating contracts and sharing incomes – all those made the wine-making branch go bankrupt,” reads a release of the party. According to the PLDM, it is relevant that the number of wineries in the country shrank 51% during 8 years of Communist rule, the number of the employees in this branch – by 28%, and the number of those involved in processing halved. “If 8 years ago, trading grapes ensured a constant income for about 200 thousand families, today they do not process the plantations because of too low prices or lacking sale markets. In 2008, the prices of grapes were only 51%, compared to the 2001 prices,” the PLDM emphasizes. The release of the PLDM also reads that, “besides the defalcations of incomes, as the personal taxation of exporting “Belai Aist” cognac and others, the governance imposed other compulsory payments to the state: transfers of 38 million lei annually in the viticulture fund, 32 million lei – for the state brand, and the costs for certifying the production increased 6 times in the last years.” 45 of those 85 existing wineries are under liquidation procedures, the PLDM remarks.