Romania's wine exports rose by 29% in 2002, reaching 505,000 hectolitres, the Winemakers and Exporters Association (APEV) says.
All in all, the wine production reached 5.1 million hectolitres last year, which means exports accounted for approximately 10% of the total, the chairman of the National Vine and Wine Employers' Association (PNVV) Valeriu Cotea said, adding the exports were bound to grow.
The main outlets last year were the Republic of Moldova, Germany (150,000 hl), the Czech Republic (35,000 hl) and Italy (23,000 hl). Cotea added the hierarchy was subject to changes.
"Moldova was at some point re-exporting the largest amount of Romanian wines, but Germany, UK and the northern countries are becoming more and more interested now. This was due to the improvements in the presentation system and to the establishment of the Romanian-German joint venture based in Duesseldorf and comprising the six leading winemakers in Romania," Cotea said.
Export-related sales totalled $3.2 million in the first two months of the year.
The representatives of the two organisations, however, did not care to specify how sales compared against those in the same time last year. Vasile Sava, Tohani SA winemaker's sales manager said the red wines were the best-sellers, accounting for 70% of the total, while white wines accounted for 30%.
The winemakers on Monday requested the Government to gradually cut excises on wine down to zero and regard it as a foodstuff. They also requested to have the fiscal bands dropped, so that the money that should go to the budget could be used for investments.
"The fiscal relaxation is a necessity. The excise a winemaker pays for a bottle of wine varies from 1,600 to 1,800 ROL, in addition to 700 ROL for the fiscal stamp and the health care tax. This money could be used for setting up new wineries," Cotea stated.
claudia.covaci@zf.ro
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