by Eleonora Scholes
Although Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin signed an agreement with Vladimir Putin to ensure the resumption of sales of Moldovan wines to the Russian market, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture has yet to confirm that the ban on..
Moldovan wines has actually been lifted. It will be at least another month or two until the first shipments can take place.
The Russian ban on Moldovan wines dating to last March on the supposed grounds of health concerns hit producers hard. Their total imports were halved, to $173 million (€130m) in 2006. The Russian wine market was long dominated by Moldovan wines, mainly in the low and medium price brackets. However, since the introduction of the ban, that gap has yet to be completely filled by other winemaking regions. Nonetheless, whether Moldava will be able to recover lost ground remains to be seen.
Althought negotiations began last November to reopen the supply of Moldovan wines to the Russian market, no imports ever took place. According to an undisclosed source in the Moldovan government, negotiations have now entered their final phase. It appears that all Moldovan wines and spirits will now have to go through a single export window. According to the Russian business daily Kommersant, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture held a tender in April. Thereafter, the federal public enterprise Soyuzplodimport was appointed an authorized importer of Moldovan wines and spirits to Russia.
On 15 June Soyuzplodimport circulated a press release that mentions a programme "to return well-known Moldovan wines to Russia”. The company confirmed that it participated in developing elements of the programme. "Once the negotiations are finished, the government of Russia or its authorized state department will announce who will be importing Moldovan wine to Russia”, the press release states. Soyuzplodimport spokesman noted that "it will be not one importer, but a number of them”. The company’s role in the negotiations was not revealed, however, it was mentioned that Soyuzplodimport was invited to take part in the process thanks to its vast experience in managing trademarks.
Wine producers and sources close to the Moldovan government commented that Soyuzplodimport would register for itself the once most popular Moldovan wine and spirits brands and receive royalties. The Russian company refuted this information, announcing that "neither Soyuzplodimport nor the Russian Federation make claims on the assets of the Republic of Moldova”.
Federal public enterprise Soyuzplodimport is part of SPI Group, the largest exporter of vodka, including Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya, owner of several Russian distilleries, distributor of spirits on the territory of the Russian Federation and shareholder in Tenute di Toscana, a joint venture with Frescobaldi and Michael Mondavi.
