MOLDOVA: Winemakers hit with Russian ban - report

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 29 March 2006

Russia has halted imports of Moldovan wine over doubts about its quality, according to reports in Moldova.

A spokesman for the Russian Federal Customs Service told news agency SeeNews yesterday (28 March) that Russia had stopped processing "all wine deliveries from Moldova".

"The sole reason for this is the request of the Russian chief sanitary inspector," he was quoted as saying. SeeNews reported that Gennady Onishchenko, the head of the Russian consumer rights watchdog, said on Monday that Moldovan wines were dangerous to Russian consumers because, he claimed, Moldovan grapegrowers used dangerous pesticides.

A spokesman for industry agency Moldova-Vin told SeeNews that the accusations about the low quality of the Moldovan wine were "groundless".

The decision to halt the imports of Moldovan wine breached an agreement between the two countries, which sets a six-month notice for similar moves, the spokesman added.

The report said that Moldova exports 80% of its wine to Russia and that the sale of wines and spirits abroad accounted for a quarter of Moldova's export revenue.

Sectors: Wine