Resulting consequences

Rospotrebnadzor gave a positive assessment of the products of two Moldovan wineries

The moratorium on the import of Moldovan wines into our country, announced a year ago by the Russian sanitary department, will be lifted in the very near future . According to information that appeared yesterday on the official website of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), Chief Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko intends to meet with producers and importers of Moldovan alcoholic beverages one of these days to “clarify further steps” aimed at to return their wine products to the domestic market. If negotiations continue at the same pace as in recent weeks, there is a chance that by the fall the first Moldovan wines and cognacs will be on the shelves of our country’s stores.

Let us recall, however, that Rospotrebnadzor somewhat delayed the resolution of the conflict, which in Moldova is considered political, but in our country they tend to be classified as consumer. The sanitary authorities promised to return Moldovan wines after a thorough check at the beginning of the year, but, in fact, the negotiation process intensified after the June visit of President Vladimir Voronin to Moscow. At the end of last month, after a rather long break, samples of Moldovan products arrived for examination at the department of Gennady Onishchenko. And as the press service of Rospotrebnadzor reported yesterday, of the three enterprises in Moldova whose alcoholic beverages underwent sanitary and epidemiological analysis, two received positive conclusions for the supply of 21 types of products. Six more types of products from another wine and cognac manufacturer are undergoing examination. As the press service of the sanitary department explained, these are the wines and cognacs that will be the first to return to Russian shelves. In addition, Rospotrebnadzor generally notes the “positive nature of the results of work to resume the supply of wines and cognacs produced in the republic.” And Moldovan winemakers, whose products occupied up to 45% of the Russian market, are not averse to returning the previous volumes of supplies to Russia.

However, despite the fact that the “market niche” for Moldovans, according to Russian experts, is open, Rospotrebnadzor, which accused winegrowers of using pesticides of the second and third classes of danger, significantly tarnished the reputation of products from the banks of the Dniester. According to the President of the National Alcohol Association (NAA) Pavel Shapkin, the “local gain” that Moldovan winemakers won today will open the way for their compatriots to the Russian market, but the return of wine will not be so rapid and the republic’s producers will not be able to take their previous positions. According to him, during the ban, the amount of domestically produced wine in the country has increased significantly, and supplies from Bulgaria, Spain, Argentina, and France have also increased. They also supplied raw materials to the so-called secondary producers, that is, Russian producers of wine and cognac.

“The domestic manufacturer will not take risks and will evaluate the price-quality ratio,” Mr. Shapkin told Vremya Novostey. True, according to his assessment, the Moldovan manufacturer has an advantage. “This year, the grape harvest in Moldova is expected to be of good quality,” explained the NAA president, “and in the fight for the Russian consumer, the Moldovans will not significantly increase prices.” Therefore, the expert does not exclude that most of the domestic producers will again return to Moldovan wine materials.

In general, Moldovan wine, according to Pavel Shapkin, “with a favorable regime” will be able to regain a maximum of only 15% of the Russian market within six months. “True, speaking in natural proportions, the opportunities for wine producers are great, since the wine market itself has prospects,” says Mr. Shapkin. “So far it is 30 times smaller than the beer market.”

Yulia KHOMCHENKO