by Igor Serdyuk
Seven months after the ban on the import and sale of Georgian and Moldovan wines in Russia, it is no longer a secret that the decision made by the central government
was purely political. As a reaction to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili s political moves that challenge Russian policy in the Caucasian region, state authorities of the Russian Federation have stopped all trade and transport between Georgia and Russia. Russian based businesses owned by native Georgians have been inspected by the tax police and restaurants in Moscow specializing in Georgian cuisine temporarily closed. Frictions between Russian and Moldovan governments have not gone that far, and negotiations concerning bilateral relations, in particular the abolition of the ban, are in process. The official reason for imposing sanctions on Georgian and Moldovan wine was a report by Russia s sanitary inspection that indicated that pesticides had been found in all wines. After critical reaction in the independent press, knowing well that no pesticides are likely to be found in any wine, it has become clear that this will probably be the only positive spin on the otherwise notorious prohibition.
