The manager of a wine company based in Bucovăț town of Strășeni district Eugen Bogatyi said that for over two years he has tried to obtain a debt of 4 million lei from a company operating in southern Moldova to which he sold his products. He won the case in all the courts of law and there is a final court decision in this regard. Things have worsened because he cannot work and cannot pay money to the farmers from whom he buys grapes.
In a news conference at IPN, Eugen Bogatyi said that SRL “Vintage Avenue” was registered in 1999 and since 2005 it has processed grapes and made wine in bulk. As they do not have their own vineyards, they buy grapes from farmers from neighboring villages, who represent about 400 peasant farmsteads. The company annually purchases by up to 2,000 tonnes of grapes and makes wine, this being its main business. Since 2005 until 2018, the company hadn’t had debts to the farmers from whom grapes were bought.
The manager related that in the winter of 2017, he signed a contract for the sale of wine with a company based in a southern district. Until February 2018, the agreed quantity of wine was supplied to this. The company was to make payments to the winemakers until May, but was unable too. In June 2018, he sued the company in order to recover the debt of about 6 million lei. The wine company won the case, but the other company challenged the decision in the Appeals Court and then in the Supreme Court of Justice. All the decisions were in favor of the winery.
Later, the sides signed a debt repayment agreement in the presence of the bailiff. Under this, the debt was to be cleared between November 2019 and April 2020. But only the first two tranches were paid and the outstanding debt is now of 4 million lei.
Eugen Bogatyi said that owing to these debts, the company could not produce wine during a year and could not repay the debts to the about 400 farmsteads with which they have worked for over 15 years and for which the vineyards are an essential source of livelihood. The actions taken by the indebted company, which forms part of a group of companies, can be classed as swindle given that there is an irrevocable court judgment. Moreover, decision makers of the company reduce and transfer the assets to affiliate companies. On January 1 this year, the company’s assets were valued at over 120 million lei. During the held trials, the assets halved.
The manager of SRL “Vintage Avenue”, alongside representatives of farmers from three localities, called on the authorities and the law enforcement agencies to intervene and do justice to them. The winemaker said he will file petitions and all the required documents to the state institutions, including the Prosecutor General’s Office.
