RUSSIA: No tests for Georgian and Moldovan wines

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 11 April 2006

Georgian and Moldovan wines, currently subject to an import ban in Russia, will not be assessed by Russian health authorities with a view to having the ban lifted, the government agency told ITAR-TASS.

Sergei Dankvert, director of Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight, said: "We have a schedule and so far it doesn't include an audit of those countries' wine industries."

Imports of Georgian and Moldovan wine were banned in late-March on the grounds that they contained pesticides and were of poor quality. Georgia has petitioned the Russian government to assess the quality of its wine.

The bans have come amid worsening relations between the two countries and Russia since Georgia's Rose Revolution in 2003 and pro-Western moves by Moldova in early-2005. Relations with Georgia soured further earlier this year when Russia's natural gas monopoly raised the price of its gas supplies to the country.

Sectors: Wine