RUSSIA: Moldovan wine set for return

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 8 January 2007

Wine from Moldova will return to stores in Russia in the coming weeks, according to local reports.

Russia's chief public health officer Gennadiy Onishchenko has told Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy that the wine would return by the end of February.

"Pretty intensive negotiations are currently under way, and I think that in January/February the first consignment will be coming into Russia," Onishchenko said.

Russia imposed a ban on wine from Moldova after claiming wine from the former Soviet state contained pesticides. Politicians in Moldova claimed the ban was politically motivated and had nothing to do with the quality of the country's wine.

They argued that Russia enacted the ban in support of Trans-Dniester, a breakaway Moldovan province that wants closer ties with Moscow.

Russia also imposed a ban on wine imports from Georgia but Onishchenko said the embargo would stay in force for the time being.

"We have had no proposals from (the Georgian government)," Onishchenko told Ekho Moskvy.

Sectors: Wine