The grape harvest this year is rich and this gladdens the farmers, but these complain they do not have where the sell the grapes and if they sell these the price per kilogram is much lower. The farmers said that owing to the weather conditions, the quality of grapes is poorer this year. As the table grapes are usually exported, these do not meet the quality requirements. On the other hand, processors say the harvesting of technical sorts of grapes started two-three weeks earlier than usual and they thus started the processing campaign with much larger suppliers and this generated problems related to production and storage. According to specialists, the main problem is caused by grapes of the sort Moldova.
Gheorghe Gaberi, president of the Association of Grape Producers and Exporters of Moldova, said the farmers didn’t look after the grapes well in the rainy months of this summer and thus have grapes of a poorer quality. These are cracked and moldy. The farmers do not have where to sell their grapes as the domestic market can assimilate a very small quantity and these cannot be exported because they do not meet the quality requirements.
“If the grapes were of a high quality, these could be sold both to the East and to the West. In general, we do not encounter problems with the sale of grapes. Last year we sold 84,000 tonnes to about 20 countries of the EU and to Russia. We do not face bans on the export of grapes to the Russian Federation and a large part of the volumes are sold there,” stated Gheorghe Gaberi, noting the technical sorts of grapes are also of a poor quality.
He also said the wineries started to speculate on the price, reducing it after seeing the situation in which the farmers found themselves. They also try to create conditions to purchase grapes now, but to pay for them only after they sell the wine. Problems appeared there were long-lasting relations weren’t established. The Moldovan farmers have good prospects of selling grapes in Europe, especially to Scandinavian countries, where these are bought at higher prices.
Nicolae Chiosa, production manager at Purcari Winery, said the winery he represents gathers grapes from all the farmers, small or large, without restrictions. The main problem is the fact that the technical sorts of grapes started to be collected two-three weeks earlier compared with the previous years and the companies experience problems as they do not have containers for storing the liquid under fermentation.
On the other hand, Nicolae Chiosa noted the harvest of grapes of the sort Moldova this year is large, but the wine producers do not hurry to buy it as it is a table sort of grape. Wine from this sort can be made only if the content of glucosides is very high, but this is not allowed in the EU. Also, the sort Moldova cannot be distilled and this situation should be changed.
According to the manager, Purcari Winery maximally processes technical sorts at its five processing points in Moldova and offers 4 – 4.5 lei per kilogram of grapes, which is a reasonable price dictated by the market.
Oxana Hâncu, marketing, manager at Mileștii Mici Winery, said the company collects grapes mainly from the Codru region because the quality of grapes there is special and is good for making such wines as Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon and Riesling. “This year we gather grapes from our vineries, not from private individuals as the legislation on vine and wine obliges persons to present a certificate or several certificates form the National Food Safety Agency. The grapes should meet particular requirements,” stated Oxana Gâncu.
The solutions to the created situation formulated by experts of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure in a meeting that involved national producers, exporters and processors included the processing of grapes by crisis distillation with subsequent storage, conducting of a thorough analysis of the volume of grapes that is to be sold and of the storage capacities and education of small producers for forming associations.
Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Nicolae Ciubuc assured the grape producers and processors that the Ministry is ready to assist them in overcoming the faced challenges and will come up with concrete solutions in the nearest future.
In January – June this year, Moldova exported grapes to the value of approximately 10m lei. The largest volumes are sold to Romania, Russia and Belarus. Moldova can annually export 10,000 tonnes of grapes to the EU. This year the export quota was 60% used. This is 5,950 tonnes.
