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Moldovan winegrowers should look for alternative markets

Moldovan President, responding to Russia's ban: we should have alternative gas sources and also markets to supply our products

Photo ITAR-TASS/ Marina Lystseva

Photo ITAR-TASS/ Marina Lystseva

CHISINAU, September 11 (Itar-Tass) - Moldova's winegrowers should look for markets alternative to Russia to supply their products, Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti told reporters, commenting on the ban imposed by the Russian federal consumer rights protection service (Rospotrebnadzor) on Moldovan wine imports.

"We should have alternative gas sources and also markets to supply our products not to depend on one partner," he said.

The president considers the decision as an unfriendly gesture. "I cannot say on what the decision is based -- whether it is really connected with the quality or it coincides with Moldova's preparation for the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius (where Chisinau plans to initial the agreement on association with the EU). Time will show it," Timofti said.

Moldova every year exported to Russia 28 percent of the total volume of produced wine and 22 percent of the cognac volume, worth a total of dlrs 60 million, about three percent of the country's all exports.

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