After the Russian Federation imposed bans in 2006 and 2013, the European Union became an attractive and already traditional market for the Moldovan wines, deputy minister of agriculture, regional development and environment Vasile Luca stated in a press club meeting on September 13, IPN reports.
According to him, the winemakers had to make additional effort to meet the European market requirements and a part of them managed to enter the EU market, while others went bankrupt in the process of adjusting to the new conditions and many specialists went abroad.
Vasile Luca noted that before the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, the national legislation in the field was adjusted to the European requirements and regulations and this represented a stimulus for producers to diversify the markets, laying emphasis on quality rather than on quantity.
The deputy minister also said that the bans imposed by Russia on the import of Moldovan wines continue to have an echo. Nevertheless, the winemaking industry managed to recover and to reform itself. The public-private partnership appeared and there was created the National Office of Vine and Wine.
The USAID Competiveness Project that supports winemaking and winegrowing is an extraordinary example through which the state and the partners from the real economy can cooperate. An important role was played by the creation of the Vine and Wine Fund that is based on parity in the wine promotion process. The results achieved in the field are based on two pillars: consumer safety and traceability. The first wines with geographical indications appeared in 2016.
“I think that if we hadn’t combined forces, we could have lost the whole industry. After 2006, the risk of disappearance was a permanent one. But the winemakers managed to overcome the financial problems and this was a miracle,” stated Vasile Luca, noting that effort is now made to increase the vine planting pace and to provide winegrowers with local sorts of grape of a high quality.
The first ban on the import of Moldovan wine was imposed by Russia in 2006. The direct losses caused by the ban were assessed at over US$200 million, while the revenues that failed to be collected totaled US$ 1.5 billion. Moldova’s wine and cognac exports to the EU now represent 32.3% of the total exports.
