The crop of technical sorts of grapes this year is expected to come to 500,000 tonnes. The harvest of technical grapes began this week as the level of sugar in them is 19% and a surplus of water would make the grapes crack. The price of technical grapes is oscillating between 3.50 and 4.50 lei per kilogram, IPN reports.

In an event held to launch the harvest, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov said 300,000 tonnes of the 500,000 will be gathered by commercial enterprises. The wine is projected to be of a very high quality this year as there was enough rain and the grapes developed well. The drought that followed contributed to the collection of sugar in grapes.

Vasile Bumacov told the journalists that two thirds of the Moldovan wine is exported to the Commonwealth of Independent States. Moldova’s wine exports to the EU, the U.S., China and Japan have increased over the last few years.