BULGARIA: Bulgarian wine production cuts planned as sales plummet

Bulgarian wine production is to suffer a set back this autumn because of a shrinking domestic and European export market, Margot Todorov president of the country's leading winery Domaine Boyar has told the Bulgarian press. Todorov has said that some of the big players in the field, for example Domaine Boyar and Seaboard, are planning joint ventures, however this did not mean a merger only future cooperation.Smaller quantities of grapes will be bought this year and if demand drops further the purchase price of grapes will fall below last year's levels, even if the harvest is good, Todorov said.Sine the beginning of the year Bulgarian exports of premium quality wines to the EU has dropped by some 20%.