Wines stopped in Solntsevo resume course to Russian market

Twenty trucks with Moldova wine that were stopped in the customs terminal Solntsevo near Moscow earlier this month continued their route to the Russian capital. Twenty-three trucks and three freight cars with wine are still blocked there, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Valeriu Cosarciuc said on July 15, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The minister said no talks took place between experts of Russia’s food safety body Rospotrebnadzor and the Moldovan Agriculture Ministry. There were held only technical discussions where the problems were analyzed and solutions outlined. According to Valeriu Cosarciuc, the Russian side argued a contaminant was found in the Moldovan wines. The minister explained that the Moldovan winemakers used 15 indexes set by the Moldovan and Russian experts in 2007, but that substance wasn’t in the list. Valeriu Cosarciuc said he had a meeting with several companies and discussed measures that may help improve the export of wine to Russia. The Russian press recently reported that the Moldova-Russian talks were interrupted by Rospotrebnadzor owing to the statements made by Minister Valeriu Cosarciuc, who said the Moldovan wines are good. Russia’s chief sanitary inspector Ghennady Onishchenko said the Moldovan wines that are unsafe to drink will be returned, while the safe ones will reach the Russian market.