In the Great National Assembly Square from Chisinau, where 50 wine companies from Republic of Moldova announced their presence, the 5th edition of the National Wine Day has started. With the main symbols of the centuries old wine tradition, with colors of national costumes and under sounds of glasses with wine, President Vladimir Voronin declared that the Republic of Moldova is and will be a country of wine, and that nowadays the wine is transforming into the most refined product of the human intelligence. President mentioned that the Republic of Moldova reaffirmed for centuries its devotement towards grapes, and created the first ever monument to it. He declared that he will toast with several glasses of wine during the day to the prosperity of this industry, which made a name for the Republic of Moldova on the international arena. Director of the Agro-industrial Agency "Moldova-Vin", Valeriu Mironescu, informed wine companies and the guests of Chisinau that the wine industry provides a quarter of the overall agro-industrial production and a third of the exports of Republic of Moldova. Therefore, in 2005 Republic of Moldova exported wine products worth USD 325 million, and in the first eight months of this year products worth USD 130 million, including USD 23 million – on Western markets. During the inauguration ceremony of the 5th National Wine Day, the winner of the previous edition, "Vitis Hancesti", was awarded the Grand Prix – the golden statue of the “White Stork”. For the first time the Wine ode was played, signed by composer Valentin Danga and poet Anatol Ciocanu, an ode that will become the symbol of the celebration. The attention of the Government of the Republic of Moldova towards the wine industry is manifested not only through the day of wine, but also through planting 14 thousand hectares with new grapes over the last years. For support of the wine companies the state budget allocated approximately MDL 150 million.