Will Belarusians be deprived of European wine?
There are rumors that the import of European wine to Belarus may be forbidden starting from April 1. After the incident with Moldavian wine one could easily believe it. The European Radio has decided to find out whether the information was true. We turned to the Ministry of Trade but they refused to answer any questions about it.
Then ERB asked companies importing European wine to Belarus about this issue. Svyatlana, manager of the “Brandko” company, said:
“The Ministry of Trade has given us quotas for import of European bottled wine. They redirected us from the import of Moldavian wine to the import of European bottled wine. How can they forbid it now?
Yesterday we got a license for import of Spanish wine to Belarus. And for Hungarian wine too. The license is valid till the end of the year”.
Alyaksey Shautsou, deputy realization director of the company “Klasіchnyya vіny” added some more facts. He told us that the Belarusian Ministry of Trade had plans about forbidding the import of ordinary European wines.
Alyaksey Shautsou: “It’s the first time I have heard about this possible ban. The initial idea of the Ministry of Trade was ban of import of Moldavian wine and then – of ordinary European wines.
But only one fourth of the yearly quota is allowed to be imported in the first quarter. The Ministry of Trade refers to the fact that in order to be imported to Belarus wines require at least 6 months of vintage.
But it happened that table wines have been confused with ordinary wines. For example, a well-known French table wine “Vin de Table”.
According to Alyaksey Shautsou, the state import substitution programme may be important here:
“The main idea is that the country is able to bottle ordinary table wines using imported materials. So, only vintage wines should be imported.
The other part of this plan has been realized in the sense that only vintage wines are allowed to be imported. But the main problem of bottling wine in Belarus is the lack of materials, especially after negotiations with Moldova were terminated.
Many importers think you cannot bottle any good wine in Belarus at all”.
Thus, the rumors about a ban imposed on the import of European wine have not been confirmed yet. ERB will be watching the state’s actions concerning wine import.
Photo by picture.nm.ru
Then ERB asked companies importing European wine to Belarus about this issue. Svyatlana, manager of the “Brandko” company, said:
“The Ministry of Trade has given us quotas for import of European bottled wine. They redirected us from the import of Moldavian wine to the import of European bottled wine. How can they forbid it now?
Yesterday we got a license for import of Spanish wine to Belarus. And for Hungarian wine too. The license is valid till the end of the year”.
Alyaksey Shautsou, deputy realization director of the company “Klasіchnyya vіny” added some more facts. He told us that the Belarusian Ministry of Trade had plans about forbidding the import of ordinary European wines.
Alyaksey Shautsou: “It’s the first time I have heard about this possible ban. The initial idea of the Ministry of Trade was ban of import of Moldavian wine and then – of ordinary European wines.
But only one fourth of the yearly quota is allowed to be imported in the first quarter. The Ministry of Trade refers to the fact that in order to be imported to Belarus wines require at least 6 months of vintage.
But it happened that table wines have been confused with ordinary wines. For example, a well-known French table wine “Vin de Table”.
According to Alyaksey Shautsou, the state import substitution programme may be important here:
“The main idea is that the country is able to bottle ordinary table wines using imported materials. So, only vintage wines should be imported.
The other part of this plan has been realized in the sense that only vintage wines are allowed to be imported. But the main problem of bottling wine in Belarus is the lack of materials, especially after negotiations with Moldova were terminated.
Many importers think you cannot bottle any good wine in Belarus at all”.
Thus, the rumors about a ban imposed on the import of European wine have not been confirmed yet. ERB will be watching the state’s actions concerning wine import.
Photo by picture.nm.ru
